#weshouldjustkisslikerealpeopledo

[xbostonsfinestx-blog]

Jade

:Still on for tonight?: Jade and Layla had been trying to get together for what seemed like months, but was only in fact ten days. This may have been their longest separation in years, to which Jade placed the blame on the adult lives they both had been hurled in to. It wasn’t long before a response was displayed on the telephone screen in Jade’s hand, confirming their plan to meet up that evening and try to play catch up with one another. A slight smile crossed her lips as she disabled the backlight of her phone, slipping it into her coat pocket as she emerged from the office building. ‘The chill in the air’ was far colder than a chill in her opinion, the wind seeming to cut through her heavy coat, prompting a grumble to her lips. I was meant to live in Florida. She complained within the confines of her own mind, clearing the last of the steps in front of the FBI Headquarters: Boston Division. Just as she got to the last step, her name was called out somewhere behind her. Kerrigan! Kerrigan! You’re gonna want to see this! She paused and turned around, looking up to find before her an agent from the organized crime unit. She gave a nod of her head before going back up the stairs and following him into the building as he started to fill her in. We might be on to something. We have five other unsolved murder cases that have the same makings as the Savastano case. Jade entered the unit with the other agent just behind her, coming face to face with the images on the smart board. “We’re talking 1993 on these as well?” She asked, turning to the man beside her who nodded to her question. “We need those files.”

:Running late, but I’ll be there.: A promise that Jade was not yet sure she could uphold, but the intent was there. The agent before her hung up the phone, shaking his head as his facial features gave away that the answer on the other end of that phone was not going to assist them. Don’t shoot the messenger here. Two of the files are gone, misplaced, damaged, whatever excuse they are giving today when the files are bought out. The other three will be here in a few hours’ time. Jade leaned back in her chair, her head falling at the top of the chair, looking up to the ceiling in physical display of her frustration. For the last eight months, she had been working to connect the Savastano murder to that of the Vinici Crime Family head, Santino Vinici. Jade couldn’t be straight with those that she worked with concerning the fact that her mother was the Savastano case. She could not implicate her father by stating that she had an eye witness to the murder as she knew she would then lose her father as well. Since working in this unit, Jade had learned the world her mother and father were a part of, so much so she could have walked into it herself. I can bring the files by your place later tonight if you don’t want to wait until morning. The suggestion brought Jade to lift her head and stare at him, shaking her head no. “It’s fine. Just call me when they’re here and I’ll come up and grab them.” She rose from her chair, replacing the layers and heading back out of the unit again. Have a good evening, Kerrigan.

Though she should have been out of there a half hour before, she was out now, and there was no going back for the moment. She hadn’t seen Layla in a week and a half. She hadn’t seen Orion in a few days either. She hadn’t seen Cael in nearly twenty four hours. The only three people in the entire universe that she felt comfortable with, and she had been without for far too long, faking her way through a grown up world where she was younger than most in her profession. Her father’s hand at play there, assisting her along her way at every turn, without her ever knowing. A half hour later, she was parked outside of her apartment building, going up the stairs to her floor and making a quick change into something a little less professional than the pant suit she was wearing at the moment. An alert sounded on her phone, a reminder she had set for herself earlier that day. Call Orion. If anyone ever knew that she had to put these types of alerts on her phone, they’d surely think her insane. The fact was, since making the move to the FBI’s organized crime unit, her brain had been a sea of information that had to be pulled forth at a moment’s notice, thus pushing off her entire life within her mind. The alerts were necessary. Around the same time every day, she would make the call. She had her reasons, though she would never disclose them out loud.

It was March 5, 2009, a Thursday evening around 6:30, when she picked up the landline phone on the wall in the kitchen of the Kerrigan apartment. “Hey, it’s me.” She never had to say who ���me’ was. Her voice gave her away every single time. “I need to ask you something, but seriously if you aren’t down with it, I’m totally fine and it’s not a big deal at all.” She twisted the phone cord around her finger, nervous beyond words as she heard him respond back to her, prompting her to ask her question. “So. Prom. I wasn’t going to go, but Allison says I’ll regret it if I don’t, so she’s kind of making me go?” Her voice seemed unsure as she continued on to explain how her mother figure, who was only ever referred to by Jade as Allison, was pushing her to go. “I guess what I’m saying is, would you go to prom with me and I’ll owe you, so big.” Just over a month later, on April 10, 2009, Orion and Jade did just that, as friends. Jade had been crushing on Orion at that point for a couple of years, but it was not her intention by asking him to prom. Truth was, she could not handle the idea of physical contact from anyone, at all, aside from Cael, Layla, and Orion. Outside of that, no, leaving the only person she could ask to go with her to be Orion. That night was the first night that Orion and Jade had spent any significant amount of time one on one with one another and what they found was that it was okay. It was something they wanted to do more often, and they did. It would take them three years before they would call it what surely Cael and Layla already knew it to be, and made their relationship official.

After disconnecting the line, she pressed and held her home button, speaking to Siri. “Siri, remind me April 2 to set something up for April 10.” Siri’s voice broke through the silent apartment, announcing Here’s your reminder for April 2 at 9 am. Would you like to confirm this now? Jade responded “Yes” to which Siri confirmed. She tossed the phone to her bed as she reached behind her to zip up the back of her dress. A half hour later, she was out the door, looking nothing like the agent she was by day, and a lot more like a woman ready to enjoy a few hours with her best friend who was more like a sister than anything else. :OMW!: She sent the text as she gave her car a moment to warm up before heading off to the bar where the two were meant to meet up just a few blocks drive from her apartment building. A short time later, she was walking into the bar, easily spotting her blonde friend, which prompted a smile to her face that was only ever evident when in the presence of Cael, Layla, or Orion. “I am terribly sorry for being late,” she stated as she approached the bar, taking her perch on the barstool beside Layla. “Work.” A one-worded explanation which had been the reason for most every apology she had to issue over the last six months or so. She never discussed the details of just what it was she was working on, but those closest to her knew her mission in life since her eighteenth birthday when she was told of her mother and the events that had led to her death. Since that day, she made every professional move to position herself in the exact place she was in this day in time. Her mission; to take down the man who had gunned down her mother and finally offer her aging father with peace and freedom once the organization was dismantled, all of which made possible by the fact there was no paper trail connection between herself and her past of Giada Savastano.

With a nod of her head, she made her standard order to the bartender behind the bartop before turning all of her attention once more to Layla. “When did it all get so complicated?” She asked the rhetorical question that she often did. There was still a large part of her that felt as if she were still a seventeen or eighteen year old who wanted to spend time with the friends she regarded as family, sleep until noon, stay out all night, and live her life; yet they were caught up in the cycle of professionalism and obligation that always left them fighting for time together. “I know. It’s always been complicated.” She stated in answering her own question as the beer was placed before her. “Thank you,” she stated, lifting the glass to near her lips. “I need simple.” She complained as she tilted her glass back, eyeing Layla, knowing the same statement could be true for her. As she lowered her glass, wrapping both hands to rest around the cold beverage, she leaned her head to the side, looking to her with a nod. “Alright. You first.” She prompted Layla to play catch up first, then she would take a turn at the same. Layla INTRODUCTION: DUALITY “The tendency of the human mind is to see the world with a ‘dualistic’ view that describes everything through comparisons: good and bad, pain and happiness, beauty and ugliness, rich and poor.”-Gvalwa Dokhampa
 A tiny and hushed moan passes through the fullness of Layla Monroe’s plump lipstick stained mouth as she groggily looks over the red ledger splayed out before her upon the antique mahogany partner’s desk. With the base of her palm she wipes the remnants of a troubled sleep from her droopy lids. “It’s too early for this,” she grumbles. Layla sinks into the high back leather chair cursing her boss and uncle for leaving the books in such a state over the past couple of weeks. Honestly, she has no logic for being aggravated with him; it’s not his fault. The accountant hired to run the books for the gambling house and escort service, Róisín Dubh (The Dark Rose), was caught skimming off the top. It was a big mistake on the man’s part--no one messes with the Irish mob’s money. 
 
Being the assistant to her Uncle Donal Murphy meant the task now fell on her shoulders to manage the books… at least until he finds a suitable replacement. For a moment she just stares at it slightly overwhelmed by the task at hand. Her real frustrations stemming from domestic issues and the strain of her dual lifestyles. Her lover Declan stumbled in not too long after she herself had smelling of whiskey and another woman’s perfume. A fight ensued and unable to face the tears glazing her cyan hues he stormed out. Where he is she knows not... Unpredictable and marching to the beat of his own drum; Declan could easily be in yet another woman’s bed, doing something shady for the boss man, or drinking himself into a stupor over his guilt. Usually she would be consumed with concern, but Layla had more important things to think about other than what trouble he is in or where he is sticking his dick as of late. He always came home anyway... she might question his fidelity, but his love never.  

Aside from that she has found herself in quite the predicament concerning her work, familial obligations and personal relationships. Since coming back from France at 19, she’s been balancing two different lifestyles; Kennedy and student by day, Murphy and criminal entrepreneur by night. "We all live a life of duality. No matter what you try to tell yourself. The trick is... learning to adjust to the blinding contrast." A hint of wisdom often hidden behind feigned confusion resonates. "I personally adore the contra..." The words of one Ella Flynn, escort and ‘agent provocateur’, echo within Layla Monroe’s head repeatedly. Little did the redheaded minx know her one simple statement would stick with Layla for nearly four years later. The devil is in the duality most certainly for one Layla Monroe Kennedy. 
 
A dull gray overcast light is pushing past the sky light in the office--soon it will be dark. Slowly she turns her head to catch the time on the antique clock hanging across the room. “Great...” she groans as she props herself up on her elbows. She hadn’t even slept the night before due to Declan. She needs some time to decompress… relieve all the stress from her dual existence--have a drink and spend some time with one of the only people she knows how to relax around. A night out with her best friend Jade is just what the proverbial doctor has ordered. Come Hell or high water, nothing would get in the way of the much needed girl time. 
 
CURRENT: GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN
 
“Friends are a strange, volatile, contradictory, yet sticky phenomenon. They are made, crafted, shaped, molded, created by focused effort and intent. And yet, true friendship, once recognized, in its essence is effortless. Best friends are formed by time.”-Vera Nazarian The scene is set; a vast and darkened skyline paints the backdrop for a thumbnail moon and the subtle flicker of stars. Diminished by the sudden arrival of rain clouds and the glow of city lights. A cacophony of sound, any sound imaginable, echos within the city walls; it rides the coast, smog and light trails, whipping around corners and dodging cracked wood and crumbling brick. Just a compilation of phonetic chorus and apparatus roar--a sleepless, overpopulated city trying to survive the horde. The shadows twist and turn, grow ominously within alleyways and unlikely venues.  

Busy streets and familiar sidewalks suddenly become ambiguous and quite duplicitous. The dirt and grime, trash littering the streets no longer offensive to the eye, but detailed props compelling the audience. The only impediment to instinct is the electric surge rippling through the air, taunting the senses and altering thought. And no matter where one turns; there’s neon lights slicing through the dark, open doors, and vice ready to greet them. The constant movement and flow of energy, it’s just like a heart thumping and pumping blood to the organs. The city streets are the veins and vessels, the structures are bone and mind--marrow and thought. The lights and sounds are the neurons and brainwaves.  
The city is alive and The Randy Shandy in downtown Boston, MA is the stage. Layla Monroe sits quietly at the bar, lost in thought once again as she sips on a stout mixed drink called a Sidecar. She all but expects Jade to run a little late, no harm and no foul, the woman has a high demand job. Something Layla more than just simply understands--she can relate. It’s strange the curveballs life can throw at a person. If someone were to ask Layla a few years ago if she’d be where she is now and Jade as well as her brother where they are… She would’ve answered with something much different. Granted, it all had to be in the cards because now she can’t imagine Jade or Orion being anything but law enforcement and together for that matter.  
Some girls would've been put off or even pissed off if their best friend hooked up with their brother--not Layla. If anything, she takes comfort in knowing they have one another off and on the job. How could she not be happy with the two people she loves and trusts the most being together… taking care of each other… watching each others backs. When a person has so little family or dependable ties, it’s important to see things in a positive way. No matter what comes Layla’s way, being positive and hopeful are the only two outlooks that get her through the day. It’s not always easy though… especially in concerns to family, friends, and circumstance.  

For about a year now the relationship between Jade and Layla has changed. Mostly on Jade’s part due to Layla’s bad decisions. For nearly 10 years she’s kept Declan O’Reilly, a man 17 years her senior and her lover since the age 14, a secret from Jade. Friends just don’t keep secrets… at least that’s how it had always been between them until Declan. However, no matter how wrong she was for keeping said secret--she wouldn’t have chosen otherwise. Sometimes it takes making bad choices to protect the ones you love most. Even though things haven’t been quite the same between the two childhood friends since she finally told Jade about the affair and how and when it began she still seeks the solace and comfort of such a devout friend. It’s said that real friends love you despite knowing everything about you. When it comes to Jade Kerrigan, a statement can’t be any less true.  

Layla, just about to finish off her first drink of the evening, didn't even hear Jade approach. When the woman’s voice subtly rang out a small smile twitches at her lips and she takes that last sip before passing her glass to Mingus, the bartender. “Another,” she states softly while tapping the rim with one slender digit. The crease on her lips deepens as she turns to face her friend and is greeted with the question. A nonchalant shrug is offered as she simply states, “We grew up. With that came the realization that we could no longer be oblivious to the horrors of reality.” Layla huffs a small laugh and shakes her head. Sometimes it hard for her to turn off abstract thought. “Yeah, simple would be nice,” she murmurs, taking her second drink from Mingus and nodding a thanks. “Rough day at the office, I take it?” In all honesty, she’s not sure how Jade or Orion do it. Putting their lives on the line everyday in a crime-ridden city like Boston. It’s admirable. 
 
“Eh,” she subtly grunts before taking another sip of her drink and flipping back her blonde locks. “Just the usual--School and work, criminals and socialites, gamblers and hookers, cops and politicians.” Slow eye roll offered. “Busy days and sleepless nights. My father got Mom in this fancy rehab facility. Bet she doesn't last 3 days and I’m sure there would be hell to pay when the step-witch finds out he’s helping her. She’s running off the fumes of him going public with me. It’s never-ending. I’m surprised Ori didn't tell you. He was the one to drop her off this morning.” She takes another drink, this time gulping down nearly half the contents just before waving Mingus over. “Two shots each of Irish Whiskey,” she motions to Jade then to herself. The next bit of news making her nervous and anxious. She clears her throat. It can wait. “Your turn.” Jade

Simple. It was only a word, yet a dream wrapped tightly within it. Things had not ever been simple, so the idea that they could one day be that was nothing but a fantasy that would never come to pass. Jade knew she could strive for it, but it would always be just a little out of reach, just close enough to smell, but never to fully taste. Simple was a concept that had been long ago lost on a three year old child, slipping through her fingers before she could even grasp it, right along with her innocence that should have remained intact much longer than it had, never having a chance to lose its new smell. It didn’t make the concept any less alluring, but with a shred of acceptance and a lethal dose of reality, perhaps she could let go of the façade that served as the cloaking device for an idea that was nothing more than that. A dream, a fantasy, a façade.

With her drink in hand, Jade went to it as if she had not tasted a dampness to her mouth in the last twenty four hours. By the time Layla turned the conversational floor over to her, her own glass was empty. A gesture of a lifted chin, along with the glance to the glass, was enough to prompt the barkeep to bring over another glass filled to the brim, leaving it for the thirsty patron beside her best friend. The song Layla sang of the balance of life was something Jade understood, though she did not much dabble in the same circle of life that Layla was a part of. Jade had to suppress the inner law enforcement side of her anytime Layla’s multifaceted professions were mentioned, keeping herself slightly distanced from them, knowing only a bare minimum in order to attempt to maintain the balance within the confines of their friendship without the influence of legal obligation. Layla knew how much to say and Jade knew how much not to hear to make it all work out.

The new glass was empty almost as soon as it had arrived, perfectly timed as Layla requested shots for the two of them. Jade gave a slow nod of her head, in full agreement with something stronger. “No, he didn’t, but we haven’t been very communicative the last couple of days?” Jade’s voice rose slightly at the end of her statement slash question. It was nothing to be concerned over, as Jade and Orion were anything but typical. “Work.” She reminded her friend, the sole reason for almost everything in her life that wasn’t going according to some grand plan of things that she truly didn’t even have. “We text more than we talk, but it’s enough, ya know?” She asked, her brows lifting as she indicated that it might not exactly be enough, but it was as ‘enough’ as Jade felt she was going to get until the Savastano case was closed.

“Okay, my turn. Let’s see. Work. Cael. Orion. Work is work. I’m there at six in the morning and half the time I’m not getting out of there until almost midnight. When I do get out, it’s with arms full of files to continue working from the comfort of my bed. When I worked at the police department with Orion, it was fast paced, ya know? Always working on a new case, some days it was four or five in a day. There was a sense of instant gratification that came with the close of most days. I felt the difference I was making in the city. Now? In those suits and meetings?” She leaned a bit closer, letting her true feelings be known for the first time. “I hate it there.” The statement disclosed to Layla was one that even Orion did not know. Jade was really good at putting on a strong face and going through with most anything she put her mind to without much regard to her own personal standing within it; this was no exception. She returned to an upright position, taking the shot in unison with her friend, nodding for another one. “Eight months I’ve been on this case. Eight months. This one case. I don’t have a change of pace. I don’t have a change in goals. Every day I am looking over the same things I looked over all day the day before and getting absolutely nowhere fast.”

Jade paused, holding back a piece of information about what her next step would be, not certain that she was ready to make mention of it to anyone. “Cael. Cael’s an ass. He’s started this thing where he’s getting heavily drunk, in excess. It’s unnecessary. I don’t have a problem with him drinking, per say, but it’s the things he’s doing and saying when he’s drinking that I have an issue with. Hurtful things. It’s like, he’s taking out twenty years of frustration on me and when it happens, it’s kind of funny… it’s like I’m not a cop. I’m not an FBI agent. I’m just his sister, and shockingly defenseless against the verbal attacks he delivers. He says it’s harmless and always does the morning after apologies, but it’s wearing on me. Half the time, I’m either staying at the office until I’m fairly certain he’s passed out somewhere, or I’m slipping in to my room, locking the door, putting in the earphones, and hitting files until I pass out in them just to avoid him.” This would markedly go down as the first time, in her life, that Jade had complained anything about her brother. She hated to do it, but the truth had to be told. As of late, she hated the situation and was on an endless search for an answer as to why it was going on at all.

Another shot, another story. “And Orion.” She shook her head, a telling smile gracing her lips as it almost always did at the mention of the boy’s name. “Cael’s on this kick that I need to put out.” She stated it almost too plainly, indicating a truth under the influence of alcohol that Jade would almost never come right out and say. “He thinks I don’t trust Orion. And I do. I trust him like I trust you.” Jade was clearly getting somewhere with this line of thought, though she was breaking her words apart the way she had as a child, indicating undoubtedly that the entire topic was uncomfortable for her and only probably being displayed due to her slightly altered mental state. “He makes this argument to me, all of the time. It’s like ‘Hey sis, how was your day? Sleep with O yet?’ but not exactly that plainly, but you get the point?” She asked, already shaking her own head no at the thought of it all. “It’s almost like…” With a hard bite at her lower lip, she couldn’t quite bring herself to fully let the thought out of her lips that perhaps Cael’s insistence was somehow perpetuated by conversations had between himself and Orion when they would be out, getting sloshed together, before Cael would come dragging in and spilling his thoughts at her without the shield of sobriety.

”I need simple.” The original statement repeated from the mouth of Jade as she finally met the eyes of Layla once more. She had surely covered the three main portions of her life, not necessarily in the order of importance, recapping what the last two weeks had presented her with. She had no grand story that would make Layla shine with jealousy at the life Jade was caught up in. She had no immense glamour or romantic arc to gush over. Instead, it was complaint after complaint, which was nothing like Jade’s normal demeanor, something Layla would instantly realize. The hardest part of it all for Jade was her relationship with Cael, as that had been the one thing she had always been able to count on, though the resentment that seemed to boil up from the man under the influence was something that cut too deep for the emotionally damaged twin he resided with. Jade’s ability to put on a brave face had been taught to her at an all too early age, yet at twenty-three years old, she was sitting before her best friend, finally revealing a part of herself that most would never believe came from her as such emotion simply did not ordinarily dwell within her, even more seldom being displayed.

”So there’s my story.” She stated, lifting the next shot glass to her lips, tossing it back, surely on a mission to go home as drunk, if not more intoxicated, than Cael always did. “So tell me something incredibly romantic, something to make me completely jealous and wish that we could trade for a day?” She requested, though she already had a feeling that it might turn into a complaint cycle from Layla as well. “Throw me just a little something.” She urged, blinking her eyes to meet those of Layla’s, begging her to have something to share that might put just a little sparkle in the blonde’s eyes that Jade could memorize and then mimic on her own, furthering the ability to put on that brave face as their night would come to an end, leaving her to face the reality of the three situations that she held little to no control over. Layla Secrets and lies, they have a remarkable way at destroying relationships. Layla hates keeping things from Jade and Orion… especially Jade. It’s something she realized years ago when Declan started coming around and spending time with her… since she first realized at the age of 14 she was his and he wouldn’t have any other way--not like she wanted it any other way. Jade should’ve been the first person she turned to. All the times growing up they would talk and share things about their lives from the mundane to the personal experiences, never once did she ever bring up his name. It’s not like she didn’t want to… she just couldn’t risk anyone finding out and getting him into trouble. She would’ve never forgiven herself. When Jade finally learned about Declan one year ago, it put a strain on the friendship Layla hasn’t handled very well. Since coming back from France and getting more involved with her Uncles business she once again is placed in a position in which she cannot be as candid as she would like with Jade. It puts everyone in quite the awkward predicament. Deep down; it felt like a betrayal, but then again so would revealing certain things about both Declan and her uncle Donal. For both personal and business reasons as well as respect for Jade, she’s learned how to maneuver around certain topics. It still doesn’t mean she doesn’t need her best friend and all the perks that comes with having one such as Jade as her closest confidant. 
 
Despite what she couldn’t tell her… there were still things only Jade could understand and that she could only tell her. Growing up they had been two peas in a pod--the outcasts. Just two quiet girls from broken and dysfunctional homes living in a world of nothing less than pure chaos. The only other people they had were their brothers. Layla probably wouldn’t have gotten through childhood if not for Orion. With their mom being gone or high most of the time, she was often neglected and left to her own devices. For the longest time, until Declan that is, Jade, Cael, and Orion were Layla’s world. It seemed natural when those two got together… like it was meant to be. Most girls might be pissed about their best friend and brother hooking up--not Layla though. One can say early on she had an inkling the two might end up together and in her eyes, no two people could be more right for each other than they are. Jade was already like a sister, her being with Orion just made it even more so. So, when Jade felt under the gun--pressured and stressed… even knowing her friend capable of handling almost anything that came her way… she couldn’t help feel the weight of her burdens. Especially, when it involved so many things that hit close to home. 
 
Quietly she listened to her friend, absorbing and processing every word taking a couple of more shots in unison as well. “Ya know Jade,” she begins as a sigh pushes past her lips. “I’m not surprised you hate the FBI. We grew up in this city and on these streets and you know it better than anyone I know…” She takes a moment to find the right words to say next. “I know you and I don’t see eye to eye these days on certain things, but I hope you know that some of the things I do…”Layla diverts her gaze, shame casting shadows across her crystalline orbs. “I hate. I see the worst kinda people--a lot of ‘em cops. This city… there’s always somethin’ goin’ down. It just gets worse everyday. Too much greed… too much bloodshed.” Boston needs people like you on the streets. Honestly, I wish you woulda’ stayed put. I get why ya moved on, but damn… at least you had Orion and the others watchin’ your back. The FBI… I don’t know chick. I just hope you have someone you can trust.” Layla meets her gaze again and offers a weak smile. “I’m sorry… I should be makin’ ya feel better.” 
 
It’s the mention of Cael and Orion that causes her to chuckle out loud. “Jesus,” she mutters. “I swear… those two get me everytime…” Past memories like a montage flood her mind of the four of them hanging out and having fun--before everything changed… before she met Declan and got involved with him. If not for the Irishman she’s pretty sure she would’ve ended up with Cael. He had been her first crush and to her knowledge she his. “Is it like a twin thing?” She abruptly asks. ‘I mean he’s so concerned about your sex life with O. It’s not like that with us… he never asks me about my relationships period… or whatever. It’s like he’s content in being oblivious and you and I both know…” Shot taken and slammed down. “My brother is anything but oblivious.” She grins. “Cael’s a piece of work. Always has been… I don’t think he gets it hun.” She leans in and offers a nudge to Jade shoulder with her own. “He was always much more brazen and socially gifted than the rest of us… it’s like he had it easier or somethin’.” A thoughtful look rides her expression. “He might have a lot to say on the matter, but when it comes down to it… All that does matter is what’s right for you and Orion, Jade. We both know my brother is different than most guys… He’s special.” Suddenly she is beaming with pride. “You make him happy… sex or no sex.” 
 
The prideful grin instantly turns sly as she leans in and whispers. “But let me tell ya… sex can be a lot of fun with the right person.” The apples of her cheeks flush red. Layla has only ever been with Declan, but in the 7 year span they’ve been ‘together’ her older lover has taught her many things. Not too mention all the stuff she learned in France from a very quirky English Lit professor that moonlighted as an escort. The woman became a mentor in a way and happened to be one of her only friends while at boarding school. “It’ll happen when it happens… Just tell Cael I’ll make his life at the pub hell if he doesn’t ease up,” she teases though the threat could be very real indeed. She’s already cut back his ability to drink while at work and has been contemplating cutting him off from the drinking period whenever at the pub. That’s just how bad the drinking had gotten. Would she mention this to Jade now. No… Not yet. There would be no more complaints from Layla… Not even the ones of Declan and how the secrecy of their relationship and his philandering ways are tearing her up inside. No more negativity… not tonight anyway. 
 
“Romantic? You want romantic?” Layla snorts a laugh. “There’s not been much romance in my life lately, but I think you might be proud of me for something… I gave Declan an ultimatum. I finally told him that I’m no longer gonna tolerate being a secret. We either come out and make it official or we end it.” In all honesty, Layla wouldn’t have been able to go through with her threat if he denied her, but she damn sure wouldn’t let him know that. A cheesy grin finds her lips. No matter the problems between the two… she’s head over heels in love with the man. Most people either fear him or hate him and all see him as a cocky prick. Granted, the assumptions aren’t so far-fetched, but there’s a side to him Layla gets to see that no one else does. A man that despite his vices and failures tries to be better… a man that deep down only wants what his parents had--love and family eternal. “He asked me to move in with him.” She pauses. “I said yes… as long as I could do some redecorating of course. . God forbid I live in that Irish bachelor pad. ” She throws up her hands and motions the bartender for another round of drinks. “He’s given me an unlimited budget to do it too! I couldn’t believe it! I still can’t… he’s so set in his ways… I guess… I guess that’s romantic, right?” She asks genuinely curious. Jade

A mixture of acknowledgement and support goes a long way from a friend when the other is facing challenges. The balances lean in one direction, then flow in the other with a continuous motion that never fully appears to stop on one side or the other. Conversation can drift from one focus to the other, yet never settle on just one topic, as two long-time friends spend much needed time together, re-acclimating themselves to one another with no confession of the need to do so. Things seemed to change so often, yet the topics of discussion never much did. For Jade, it was work, Cael, and Orion. For Layla, work, Orion, Cael, and Declan. She was only granted an additional topic due to the fact that she and Cael were never given their chance to solidify actions backed by their crushes, though Jade had always secretly hoped they would share a double life one day, marrying one another’s brother, becoming sisters two times over. It was a hope that she held on to up until about a year before when the truth of a long-term relationship with Declan had found its way to the surface, shattering most any chance of her future double-sisterhood. When it came to pass that she was filled in on such information, her heart broke for Cael a bit. She knew how Cael had felt about her, yet there was no longer the chance of such being reciprocated. Instead, Cael kept right on doing Cael, random women, drinking himself away, living a life Jade would not have chosen for him. He seemed happy, most of the time, so how bad could it have been? Layla seemed happy as well, so what more could Jade have truly wanted?

The lack of normalcy between herself and Orion had been a constant struggle in Jade’s mind. When she and Orion were together, the idea of normal didn’t often flood her mind. It wasn’t until those moments with Cael that she would actually see that she and Orion moved at a snail’s pace in their relationship. They had been together for years now, the date actually unknown as to when they became official. Jade credited the date to senior prom, their first official night together, though it had been set up as a favor based in friendship. She couldn’t have known that night that the spark would be there with the two of them alone, yet they were emotionally inseparable since that evening. Letting Orion down was weighing heaviest on Jade than anything else and it was not to be held beyond the scope of reason that she may act on Cael’s suggestions in the coming days or weeks, though the thought of penetration terrified the woman in a way that was unnatural.

“Flanagan,” Jade stated, nodding her head. “I don’t have a ‘partner’ per say. It’s not like the department was. We all seem to work independently, yet together, if that makes any sense to you. But, Michael Flanagan is a good man. He’s on this case with me and somehow keeps me going, even when I want to seal the case and let it go back in the 20-year-old dusty file folder I pulled it from in the first place. But I trust him, well… as much as I can trust someone who isn’t family to me.” That statement was easily inclusive of her biological father (who had only briefly met Orion and Layla- Jade needing to keep her father distanced from her life so that she may continue professionally without her birth identity being discovered), Allison (the woman who raised her), Cael, Layla, and Orion. She could count on one hand the people that she knew loved her, and whom she loved. She could trust those people because they had proven it to her, time and time again, at a very young age. There was a circle of trust and it seemed as though once inside, one would never be released. Even Layla’s years of transgressions, keeping the secrets of her relationship from Jade, defying a girl code that stated they must share every detail, as unimportant as it may seem, did not grant her a full exit from that circle of trust. It may have put her on the edge, putting a strain on the friendship as the two tried to make their way through the deceit, but Layla was not permitted to exit the circle, as it was tight and firm, allowing no one within to depart her life without holding on for dear life.

The disruption in the conversational tide only came as Layla made mention of just what sex could be. Fun. No. That was not a word Jade could even imagine relating to the act. Jade knew sex was personified in every avenue of media. She knew that many crimes were based in it. She knew that somewhere, someone, and probably most someone’s, enjoyed it. But the very thought of it sent a terrifying chill through her body. She was almost surprised that Layla could speak so casually of it before her. It was the same as Cael. How could he mention it as he had? Did everyone in Jade’s life think that it was high time she get over the innocence that had been stolen from her at the youngest age? Was she failing Orion, and everyone else, at every turn when it came to this? Was Orion possibly venting to Cael, as she had wondered before? Could he have feasibly asked Layla to speak on his behalf of the subject? The very idea of any form of insertion was enough to cause Jade to pull back, to hide in a dark corner, and refuse to come out, yet here it was, again. The thought was pushed from Jade’s mind. Orion would not do that. Orion understood what her issues were with the entire situation, and he loved her still. He constantly reminded her that he didn’t need it to prove her love and devotion to him. He promised, on multiple occasions, that he understood. Jade knew that Orion was a protector, and this subject was no exception. It was engrained in him at an early age. He had been that for her since the night she knocked her tiny fist against the apartment door down the hallway and would meet the neighboring siblings. Orion would not pressure her on his own, nor would he enlist the troops, leaving Jade to only face the fact that maybe, just maybe, she needed to push through a first encounter with him, and just do it. It was becoming ridiculous that she was 23 years old, and yet had still no experience in the matter, aside from that which was taken from in her childhood.

“It’s not like I don’t want to sometimes… there are definitely times where it crosses my mind. But to do it? I just...” Jade’s voice dropped off, her discomfort on the subject ever present, as it had always been. If there was one thing unchanging with her, it was this. It was so deeply rooted and interweaved throughout her life that deviating from the hesitation and fear was not something she had any idea how to do. Cael had sparked the first thoughts recently, and regardless of intent, Layla was doing so now. She couldn’t commit to it being tomorrow, but Jade had this aching feeling within her that maybe everyone else was right and it was high time she just conquer her own feelings on the matter and do it, for the sake of showing that love and trust in Orion. “I need another drink.” She plainly stated, disregarding the previous line of conversation just like that, holding no interest of it coming back up.

The drink in hand allowed her to focus in on what she had hoped would be insanely romantic, and it did not fail her at all. “Nice.” She nodded, tossing back another shot, imagining what that must feel like for Layla. Not only had she been granted the ability to share a space with the man she had loved most of her life, but the permission to make changes to it, to alter the appearance, to put her own touch on the newly shared living space. “That’s… terribly romantic.” Jade confessed with a nod to her head, the gleam in Layla’s eyes noted and memorized. Her strikingly beautiful blonde friend with her rough start was finally getting a taste of it all. Openly being with Declan. Moving in with him. Planning a world around the two of them. The green monster was not something that often fell into Jade’s persona, yet at this moment, she would be lying if she said she had no hopes of one day having that level of normalcy. “You make me sick.” Jade teased, the smirk to her lips making her intentions evident as she lifted a new shot glass to her lips, certainly feeling the effects as time wore on.

The more Jade drank, the more detached from her oral filter she became, allowing words to pass through which normally would have been caught and tucked away for another time, also known as never. Chatting was not Jade’s strong point, yet here she was, going on and on with Layla, proof of the level of her intoxication. “I’m going to miss this.” She stated with an explanation pending at her tongue. “It could still happen some, I guess, but we’d just have to be careful and incognito!” An addition to her original statement as she nodded her request to the barkeep for another line of shots. “I trust you, Layla, ex… explic… a lot.” She grinned, unable to quite form a word from the large vocabulary she ordinarily held with no pauses- explicitly. “I want to tell ya, but I’ve told no one, and you gotta keep it on the D.L.” Slang. Something the agent did not believe in, yet there it was. “Eight longggg months is a really long time.” She stated redundantly, the fresh round of shots arriving before them, an endless stream of liquid courage. “I can’t get nowhere. Round and round, chasin’ my ass. A merry go round that nevah runs out of power. One thin’ to the next to the next to the next to the next…” Her language slurring, her ‘g’ dropping off of words, an altered state that to date, only Layla had ever truly witnessed fully, and could be counted on one hand how many times she had seen such a spectacle. “I think I’m gonna go in. All the way. Deep. Covah.” She stated, implying such things that should have never been spoken of, yet she felt an obligation to tell Layla, and Cael, and of course, Orion.

Jade had not yet told any of them, though she had known for days now that it was looking as if she might need to take this series of actions to put the man responsible for her mother’s murder away for good. “I need a confession, so I gotta get close. CI’s aren’t workin’. Flana… Michael... that guy I work with? He suggested it the other day and I told him there was anothah way, but I am thinkin’ there’s not. So I just wanna tell ya, I’m gonna miss this if we can’t do it.” The ordinarily seamless language of the brunette was broken, words falling apart as if she were uneducated. “Can we get anothah round, hun?” Her previous sophisticated gestures of request had now been replaced with such a tongue that was unfamiliar to her, yet the lines upon lines of shots consumed had taken her eloquent language, shaken it up, and spit back something that tasted funny on her lips, prompting a laugh as it sounded foreign on her own ears. “Don’t. Tell.” She firmly instructed, the look of stone implicating the seriousness as the fleeting thought of security issues came and passed within the walls of her drunken mind. “Anyone.” She furthered with a nod of her head, followed by a laugh at her lips. Jade Kerrigan was effectively drunk, completely wasted, in the trusted companionship of her best friend, where she knew no harm would come. -February 6, 2015

[xbostonsfinestx-blog]

Jade The first few days of marriage were primarily spent in their bedroom with only brief intermissions to recharge, hydrate, and take care of Crash’s basic needs as the newlyweds completely gave in to what would be a staycation of sorts.  The third morning, Crash was standing at the end of the bed, holding his food bowl in his mouth, knocking it against the end of the bed, learning that if he wanted something the last few days, he was going to have to make a scene to get it.  Jade got up, going for the kitchen to start a pot of coffee and feed the pup before returning to the bedroom where she’d get dressed to take him for a walk.  A half hour later, she was coming back into the apartment, pulling off her coat and hanging it behind the door as Crash was released from his leash, going to his water bowl.  Meanwhile, Jade made Orion’s cup of coffee and headed back into the bedroom where she’d place his coffee on the bedside table as she did each and every morning before she’d be finding her way back into the bed with him once again.

Orion Already up by the time she'd return, the man in bed with a book was a common theme. Leaned up on the headboard with the book in his lap. Given his work situation and the lack of income coming in there, he had made some sacrifices. Namely reducing his book allowance for himself vastly by the week leaving the man to only a few magazines a week. With that being said, he had gotten a library card. Many library cards of any library in a 50 mile radius to satisfy his need for different things. Times, gas money calculated as the current thick book on his lap was an encyclopedia of sorts on his latest obsession; procreation. Just one of many pushed through in lieu of current events as he sought to understand it all. This book in particular was on the mating habits of animals. As she entered, the man would glance up briefly as his finger found his spot. Reaching for that coffee a moment later.

Jade As she entered the room, she found him laid up against the headboard, a book in hand.  The mere sight of him there before her in such a manner brought comfort to the woman that though their marital status had changed as well as the news that there was a family begun there within her, that some things would remain absolutely constant.  Handing the mug off to him instead of placing it on the nightstand, she took up a seat at the edge of the bed there beside him.  “Anything interesting?” she asked, knowing he’d surely have plenty to tell her if he’d been awake the entire half hour she’d been gone with Crash.  Leaning down to unbuckle her boots there at his side of the bed, she removed each one so that she could then climb over him to find her place beside him.  With the first boot off, she worked at the second as she glanced over to him, finding the name of the book from the angle she was in, not sure how he was reading it, but not at all surprised.

Orion Hearing her question, he'd smirk lightly. Interesting to him and interesting to the rest of the world was a different question entirely yet she was pulling the cork from him to let it all spew out and that was all on her. "Anglerfish." He began, "25 out of 160 species of them are shown to exhibit sexual parasitism. When they were discovered, the scientists only found females which puzzled them but they found these small, almost masses of flesh on their backs. They thought they were just parasites but upon better looking, it turned out that these "parasites" were highly reduced male ceratioids making them polyandrous. The males never mature but basically their goal is to find a female and bite her and then he releases an enzyme that melts off his mouth and faced using him to the females blood vessels essentially allowing him to fuse with her while still allowing the production of his sperm so he'll stay stuck on her for as long as she may live and she'll have a constant supply of sperm to reproduce with...now I'm reading about ducks." He explained, showing he had read none of that off and it was from sheer memory.

Jade Under normal circumstances, Jade was pretty good at keeping up with him.  She could usually grasp what he was saying and even found comfort when he’d taken on to a spiel much like this one, and yet all at once, she was lost.  A moment that anyone else might refer to as pregnancy brain, yet she didn’t know enough about it to know just why she hadn’t been able to follow along, but he’d lost her as the look on her face would show.  “Okay, so wait… anglerfish males bite the back of the female and then his face melts off and he morphs into one with her forever?  So this can only happen once?” she asked, trying to make sure she understood, already thinking there was no way she was ready to hear what it was he was reading on ducks.  The capacity of the man’s mind to remember things amazed her at every step of the way and this was just another instance of just how incredible the man was.

Orion "Yeah. They go the rest of their lives with that one mate meshed to their back most of the time. They found that some had up to 8 males on them yet it was rare. That's all they'd never need. He supplies constant sperm whenever she wants it and he literally melts into her and functions for no other reason than to supply her with sperm." He allowed, having no issue with explaining as he was patient enough at explanations. Seeing she was just as riddled as him. "With ducks...the males have corkscrew penises and the females have corkscrew vaginas that go in the opposite direction because ducks are known to force copulation so the female has the ability to protect herself from that unwanted sperm and even can lead the males into dead ends which trap the sperm and don't get to fertilization." He continued as all of this was like Christmas morning to the man.

Jade The explanation a second time seemed to sink a bit more to the woman, though she was admittedly still swamped in the information.  She finished pulling off the other boot, leaning over to pick both of them up and toss them closer to the wall so he wouldn’t trip on them should he try to get up, hearing him begin about the ducks which was possibly more mind blowing than that of the anglerfish had been.  Standing up from the edge of the bed, she unfastened her jeans, dragging them off to toss them aside just the same, getting more comfortable now that Crash was taken care of.  “So they can literally /decide/ when they are ready to have babies.  No ‘hey honey, I’m pregnant’ surprises along the way.  They just say they are ready to get pregnant and then they do it?” she asked as she brought her knee to the edge of the bed, climbing over his legs to get back to her side of the bed as she found her place against his side.  Her head leaned against his upper arm as she took a position that would not be awkward or strange to the two as she could be found there to his side while he was reading as often as he could be found with a book in bed, learning random things from him along the way and loving every minute of it.

Orion "Basically." He returned, while knowing that conversation was had with none of the animals in the book. It was the females call in it as the males were just around for the ride. Feeling her find her place to his arm, he'd show her the picture of the anglerfish on the previous page with the parasitic male as nothing more than a shapeless attachment. Looking back towards her simply as nature was an incredible thing. Especially in these moments when evolution literally presented itself before their very eyes.

Jade Taking in the image there on the page as he drew the page back to the prior to show her, her eyes widened at the sight of it where the male literally lost himself in the female.  Bringing her hand to cross her own body, gripping softly to the curve of his arm, she drew in close to him.  “Aren’t you glad that’s not the case for us?” she asked, unable to talk about it without thinking just how sad it would be if he were attached to her back with his face melted off, serving no other purpose but to procreate, depriving her of the opportunity to lay in bed and just spend time with the man.  “So what’s brought on this fascination?” she asked, as clearly he was deep within the realm of animal procreation, only able to wonder if somehow their pregnancy had sparked some other interest that most would surely never understand.

Orion "Yeah, I wouldn't much like being parasitic." He remarked honestly as his eyes rediscovered the page in time for her question. "You know what did." He reminded her, as when he went through something, he became obsessed with it. This would be no different. "We procreated...and the libraries are out of the human books." He remarked honestly as the man's appetite knew no bounds in this realm.

Jade Her eyes lit as a smile swept her features at his reminder that she knew already what had sparked this latest thirst for knowledge, knowing he would be the one that would know everything there was to know about having a baby and caring for one by the time she was showing.  “Not sure I much care for the idea of the corkscrew either,” she confessed, as she knew that if it was left up to her when they would have had a child, she might’ve claimed they weren’t ready for all of eternity, always having one more thing to do first, never fully ready to take on that responsibility, though after the fact, she knew there was no better time than now.  “You already have your name waitlisted for the human ones, don’t ya?” she asked, not even needing to ask that question as she imagined she already knew the answer.

Orion "No where is expecting new ones. 'Limited interest' but I'll be able to buy new ones once I get back to work at the funeral home." He added idly as he needed the money no doubt and it was time to get back to his roots. "And the ducks penis falls off after the end of the mating reason though he will regrow one." He added as his own personal fun fact.

Jade “Back to work at the funeral home?” she asked, not sure she was hearing him right, though she knew that she had.  “I thought we were going to go on a trip for a while.  A honeymoon of sorts?” she asked, lifting her head from where she’d rested against him, not sure when he meant to start working there, or when they would actually make it out of the apartment to go meet with a travel agent, but slightly blindsided from the suggestion.  All at once, she couldn’t help but wonder if he’d told her this before, yet another instance of pregnancy brain although she didn’t know such a thing existed.  A hazy feeling fell over her as she looked to him for help, marking his fun fact within her mind, but she too had now fixated on something else entirely.

Orion "There's time between that." He reminded her, as it was strictly day by day deal. If he wanted to work one day, he went in and worked and walked away with his share. Looking down towards her as she pulled from him and seemed confused when he was merely keeping his options open. "That much is given." He reminded her as the travel agent was working out their final arrangements as they spoke.

Jade Knowing the responsibility that was about to fall on the both of them, along with the pressures of figuring out what they both wanted to do professionally, the vacation was important to her.  She could only imagine that they might never be just the two of them, able to do what they wanted to, ever again.  For her, it was once in a lifetime, for any future trips, regardless of their child’s age, they’d always worry for them from that point forward.  Not meaning to alarm him in the way she’d pulled from him, his words remained even and reassuring.  Nodding her head, she’d find her place back against his arm again.  “You really think you don’t want to be a cop anymore?” she asked, not really sure where she stood on the matter herself, but wondering if he was really done with it.

Orion "It's not about what I want to do. It's what I'll be allowed to do. I'm a liability to them. They're not going to let me continue. Most likely, they'll let me keep my pension and benefits and ask me to step down. Maybe a little something on the side to sweeten the deal." He explained, as this had nothing to do with him but just what he could do and he was bracing for the worst.

Jade Hearing him out, she knew he was right, though she’d forever remain optimistic that they’d offer him his position back on a probationary period as he had no priors to speak to the incident being recurring.  Ultimately though, she knew he was possibly right.  “But if they did let you back, would you want that?” she asked, only trying to see what it was that he wanted.

Orion "They're not going to." He rationalized, never good at hypotheticals. "Think about how things are with the police right now. Any missed step, any screw up. People have already lost faith in their police force. It's thin ice." He reminded her as he knew there was no tolerance. Yet, why it was taking so long to just put a bullet in it, he'd never know. Closing his book after noting the number, he'd slip it onto the bedside table as he gave her his full attention.

Jade “I could make a call,” she offered, a tilt there to her head speaking to connections that she could certainly tug upon after her years within the bureau.  If he wanted it, she’d do what she could to keep him there, knowing damned well the man was good police.  There was none like him when it came to the attention to detail the job required and he had full faith that she could get him back under that badge.  “I won’t if you don’t want me to, but I can if you will agree to let me.”  Knowing he’d surely still be met with the probation as there was nothing she could do to get around that, yet getting him back in the door, back at his desk, she might be able to do something on that part, but she’d need to know if that’s what he wanted or if he was taking this as an opportunity to do something different with his life.  Meanwhile, her own was still a shitstorm of her own.  If only a phone call could fix a psych exam.

Orion "I'm not going to achieve anything by dishonest means." He reminded her, not needing anyone's help as if it was to happen then it would happen. He'd lose all respect from his peers and all honor in the job leaving the question of how he could trust his men and those around him? He couldn't and he wouldn't. "I've already been forced into dealings with enough people because of my sister. I don't need the other side of the spectrum." He reminded her as he had a disdain for both thugs in jeans and thugs in uniforms just like thugs in suit and tie.

Jade She understood and wouldn’t ever push it on him, but the option of making a call was there should he need it.  With a baby on the way, they both had no choice but to get their shit straight as their savings would be gone in no time and Jade was entirely too proud to ask her own biological father or adoptive mother for help although she knew they’d do it in a heartbeat.  “And I wouldn’t want you to,” she confessed, knowing what the man’s integrity meant to him and for that reason alone, she wouldn’t touch it.  “When we get back from our trip, I think I’m going to see if the bureau will keep me on through the pregnancy and out of the field.  Office work, cyber research, something of the like… despite my failed psych evaluation.  Then afterwards, maybe I’ll take the recommendation they’re offering to go into the police department.  What do you think?” she asked, knowing it wasn’t what she wanted to be doing for the next few months, but also knowing there was a tiny person inside of her that was going to have to come first and taking that knowledge into a police department now wasn’t the best way to go about it.  Besides, the bureau was at least protected far better than the department was, giving a sense of safety as to where she and the baby would be while they were working to build up the money it was going to take to get things ready for the baby and the days to come afterwards.  

Orion "I think that sounds good..." he stated simply, as he'd definitely want her out of the field and her psych evaluation wouldn't much matter if she was pushing pencils. Though knowing she wouldn't like it much. It would be best. Reaching out for her, his arm would draw around her.

Jade It wasn’t at all what she wanted to do, but it would bring in income as well as give her time to decide if going to work for the department would be the next logical step or if there was something else out there.  Her entire life had been about getting to the bureau and solving her mother’s murder, which was now done, leaving her with a sense of satisfaction, but also a sense of emptiness as she didn’t know what came next.  As he drew his arm around her, she easily went into his hold, almost as if he was the answer to the question that riddled her in that moment of what she was to do next.  This was what she was supposed to do next.  Orion and their baby.  Anything else would just be supplemental as the core was there with him.

Orion Slipping his other arm around her as she went willingly, lips to the top of her head where he’d rest his chin simply on the top of her head, humming softly. “If all else fails, I can get you a receptionist gig at the home. It doesn’t exactly work like a normal job though. It’s like…for each job, you get a percentage which works really well somedays and then sometimes it might get a little slow. It never slows down entirely but…the secretary has the hard job. Mourning people and what not…” he offered.

Jade Feeling him draw into her, she was instantly one with him, easily going into his embrace as though it were just an extension of herself.  As he began, she couldn’t help but smile that he’d thought of something more.  Though she couldn’t imagine the actual emotional toll it must take on a person, or wonder if she had the ability to shut it all off separately while still being warm, it was something to think about if the department didn’t work out in the end for her.  “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” she whispered against his chest, her arms finding their way around his midsection.  “Not that you’re a thing, but you know what I mean.”

Orion “You’re the best thing to happen to you.” genuinely believing that as the woman was more of a gift then she’d ever understand as he felt her to his chest. Lifting his head as he pressed back into that headboard. Hearing her mention that he wasn’t a thing, he shrugged his shoulders. “Sometimes I feel like a thing…” he’d playfully admit, a broken thing. Yet, he never felt that way in her presence. Somehow.

Jade Turning into him more fully, she drew her leg over his as he leaned back against the headboard, her eyes lifting to find his as she shook her head slowly, still missing the length her hair once had, standing as the last residual piece of the undercover case she’d been away for too long on.  Her weight was still low, but the pregnancy promised to change that.  Otherwise, she was every bit the girl she’d left as, even without a clean psych eval.  “No way,” she whispered, not willing to take that one on herself.  He’d been the one and only constant in her life aside from Allison and for that alone, he was the best thing to ever happen to her.  Never in his care was she ever hurt, nor did she believe she ever would be.  Sentiment took over the woman entirely as the thoughts ran through her mind, reflecting through her eyes as she met his.  “You are /not/ a thing,” she argued, her nose nudging his.  “Not even a little bit.”  She knew the best of him and had decided that she was the authority on this and he’d have no choice but to live with it, and her.

Orion Hearing her argument as she took it entirely too literally, feeling her nose to his as he heard her response. “You can’t make a valid argument. You are bias.” he pointed out as she not only loved him but had been with him for a very, very long time. “You wouldn’t stand up in the jury.” he reminded her as her bias made her not quite capable of a judgement that anyone could much value.

Jade “No jury needed.  You aren’t a thing.  You are my husband,” she stated easily, though the phrasing on it was all too new to her.  Words she’d uttered many times over the last few days, getting used to them a little more each time, though they still felt beautifully foreign against her tongue.  Although nothing had changed between them, everything had changed between them all at the same time.  Stealing his lips for her own, she pressed a kiss against his lips, one hand slipping up to find the side of his neck.  “My husband is not a thing,” she whispered against his lips, never quite giving up that kiss as her smile swept her features before she was pressing her lips fully back to his.

Orion Pressing his lips back to hers as he could taste her persistence in this which was as always, impressive. Feeling her to the side of his neck before she was back at his lips again. Spotting her smile that was nothing short of contagious. “This thing loves you, if it’s all the same.” he teased as he flashed her a smile as she had started the smiling part and he couldn’t stop.

Jade Smiles now pressed one to the other, the kiss was failing them quickly, though she’d fight as hard as she could for it.  Pressing her lips to his only to have her own smile take over again, struggling to keep it at bay before finally drawing back if only to see his smile for all that it was, her own matching his.  “Yeah, well this thing loves you too,” she stated, for if he was a thing, then she was certainly a thing, as they were two halves of a whole and there was nothing he could do to change her mind on it.

Orion “My thing.” he specified as if they were going to do this then they were going to do it the right way, hand slipping up for the side of her face as his lips finally sealed. Eyes passing over hers as he simply took in the moment to take her in and was visibly transfixed with her as his thumb ran her jawline. “All mine.” he stated softly as if that realization was settling.

Jade There was a slight nod of her head in confirmation that she was his thing before she felt his hand there to the side of her face.  She’d never want for anything more than this man in her entire life, nor had she ever, nor would she.  “All yours,” she whispered softly as his eyes passed over her.  She knew he was taking her in.  She could see it in his face as she made no attempt to draw back into him for it would surely be a sin to disrupt the man’s view although she’d never much understand what it was that he saw before him.  It was clear the man was taken by her just as deeply as she was taken by him and for that, she’d pause, still, remaining just as she was without alteration.  

Orion Nodding as he heard her statement, knowing that to be true as the two had only belonged to one another even before that confirmation. Leaning in, he’d press his lips back to hers after taking in the sight of her. Then wanting the taste of her as he captured her bottom lip. Taking in the territory there before him as he hummed low. Drawing in her taste as he always did and pulling her in entirely.

Jade The moment between them seemed to linger on for an eternity, yet it was one that she wouldn’t dare break.  No one looked at her the way he did.  No one ever had and no one ever would.  With everyone else, she was closed off, standoffish, and not at all welcoming.  Yet with him, she was the polar opposite for he was her safety zone and had been since she was seven years old.  Feeling him pull against her, leaning up himself to meet her lips with his, she gave up her lower tier to him easily as her eyes fell closed.  The sweep of his arms around her letting her know he had her fully just as she knew he always did.  Easily molding against him, her smile had long before faded in exchange for something the two had experienced time and time again throughout the last few days, drowning in one another entirely, locking out the rest of the world and finding a place where nothing else mattered.

Orion Finally getting that kiss right since their smile was gone. Not from lack of happiness but mere concentration as he held onto her with both arms. Feeling her mold to him in return as the two meshed and met together in every way as they always did. His book on the side table and left there for the time being though he’d notably return to it all in good time as his own head slightly tilted to allow her deeper access.

Jade Laying against him as their lips met in a kiss that had been attempted throughout, yet failed at their smiles, she drew her leg over him, bringing herself over him entirely as he tilted his head to the side.  Doing the same to the opposite angle, allowing them the optimum contact between the two, her tongue traced the part of his lips as she drew her knees to either side of his, straddling over him as her hands found the back of his neck, drawing him up off of the headboard and towards her where they could wrap entirely around one another.  In just her t-shirt and panties, her bare legs rested against the blanket that laid over his lap as her tongue sought out the taste of him that would flood her in a moment’s time.

Orion Feeling her drawing onto him as her tongue found the part of his lips. Parting for her as his own rolled out to meet hers. The heat of their skin dancing between them as the two had not drew themselves from this synopsis since their vows. Only wondering when they'd come back to reality or how they had managed so long without this in the first place but God, was it worth it. Every moment. Every stalled attempt and interruption as he'd do it all over again.

Jade Somewhere in the middle of a lifetime of inadequacies, it was here that she had found herself entirely.  Letting go of everything that had held her back previously had been a long and grueling process and the man was nothing short of a saint for going through it with her without ever leaving her or giving up even for a moment.  As his tongue met her own, she felt his taste instantly consume her as she could only imagine the same was true for him.  With her hands to the back of his neck, she pulled against him, drawing him up from where he leaned back against the headboard, pulling him into her as she drew back, sitting up, yet not allowing their lips to part.  Once he was up from the headboard, her legs wrapped around him as every part of the woman was present and engaged in the man without distraction or desires outside of that moment with him as though they hadn’t just spent the last several days in the same space.

Orion Leaning up for her as he met her closer as his arms would sweep around her with great excess. Pressed back to her with an ease like it had always been this easy and practiced. Little would anyone realize. Feeling her legs wrap around him. His lips would draw back slowly from her. "Thank you for letting me be your male anglerfish and fuse onto you..." he'd tease as he spoke to her lips.

Jade As he drew up to her, wrapping around her as she did to him, she was nearly surprised when he withdrew from the kiss, speaking against her lips.  A soft smile swept her features as she remained there at his lips.  “Just glad your face didn’t melt off in the process,” she managed, one hand coming to the side of his face, assuring he was still intact.  Drawing back further, she’d let her eyes find his as she gently stroked the side of his face.  “Too handsome to waste it,” she assured as she gave herself a moment much like the one she’d let him have previously, visually appreciating him as her fingertips softly passed against him.

Orion "Not true." He argued, a shake of his head as he refused that. While he still had a face, it was hardly a good one. Pressing his lips back to hers gently as he hasn't wished to be done with that kiss even as he felt her hand. His hands passing over to her sides where he'd probably celebrate the day when he didn't feel her ribs so prevalent under his grasp.

Jade Before she could argue that his face was too handsome to waste, he had her back in the kiss that was never meant to be broken.  Pressing her lips easily back to his, she felt his hands over her sides, only the cloth of her t-shirt separating them.  Bringing her own hands down from the side of his face and the back of his neck to smooth against his bare shoulders, finding the back of his upper arms where she gripped more tightly against him.  A soft hum passed her lips as she shifted her place against him slightly, the heat of her core protected only by the panties she wore while her hands drifted down to find out if the man had ventured to put boxers on while she was away that morning or if he was just as bare as she’d left him.

Orion The man wasn't much a fan of being naked. Always yanking those boxers back on when she was done with him where he was most comfortable and that's where she would find him. Lips back to hers where they'd get back to where they were supposed to be in that moment.

Jade Her hands passed down his shoulders to his chest, making their way to his sides as she went in search of what the situation was, already knowing what it would be, but checking just the same as she allowed herself that slow passage of her fingertips against his upper body.  Her lips pressed fully to his as she found the waist of his boxers, groaning softly against his lips at the discovery.  Grasping the fabric with her fingertips, she was in no position to remove them as she sat over him, wrapped around him.

Orion Smirking as she groaned as she had to know by now what she would find. Hardly feeling comfortable enough with himself to be lounged out naked despite any attempts to convince him otherwise. Knowing she'd hardly be able to pull it off in this position, his hands would trail to her hips. Giving her a gentle squeeze as she'd have to move to manage yet he didn't think she would.

Jade Feeling the grip of his hands to her sides with that smirk to his lips, she knew she had to move even if she didn’t want to.  Remaining as she was for a few more moments, allowing herself to simply kiss the man before it would have to be severed, her lips passed softly over his, a tenderness almost always about her in moments such as these.  Finally, she’d shift over to the side of him, her lips sealing that kiss as she drew back to meet his eyes once again.  A soft smile stole her features as she pulled the blanket back from overtop of him, kicking it to the end of the bed as she had no use for it now, her hands then finding the waist of his boxers once again.

Orion Feeling her shift before he met her eyes, knowing what this movement meant as the blanket was pulled off and far away. The idea of being completely bare like this had once scared him half to death. He was getting better with it yet she'd always find he wasn't one to strip himself down but she didn't seem to mind much as his hips would lift to allow her at it.

Jade As his hips lifted, she would readily assist him, dragging the fabric past his hips and to his thighs, allowing him to lower his ass to the bed once again. Guiding the fabric down his thighs, finally free of his legs entirely, she let them fall from the edge of the bed, getting the man just as bare as he had been the night before. Not allowing her eyes to stall on his bare body for too long, she brought her eyes back up to his, her hand returning to the back of his neck as she leaned in, pressing her lips to his once more. At one time, she would have never believed herself capable of such things, yet things were incredibly different between them since her return to Boston. A soft hum passed her lips there against his as she drew into him once again, her free hand passing against his thigh.

Orion Feeling her to her neck, his lips pressed back to hers as his own hands settled to her sides as she drew back at him. Tasting her hum as he'd give up one of his own entirely pleasant at the turn of the events. Pulling her back into him as the man who never wanted to be touched wanted to be skin to skin with her and feel as close physically to her as he did emotionally.

Jade Feeling him draw her into him once more, she went to him easily despite the fact that her shirt and parties remained in place, unable to pull back from him as his there was nothing in the world that compared to being drawn into him knowing all too well just how incredibly lucky she was to be his. Both of her hands now found the back of his neck, gripping to him as she drew her leg over his once again. A hunger existed in her kiss as she pulled over him, finding her way back to where she had been moments before. Orion Drawing his hands to her hips where his fingers located the fabric of her panties. Now understanding the issue which would be easily remedied as he'd lean forward as his legs spread. Leaving her no option but to drop back between his legs against the bed as his lips disconnected from hers only to begin to drag down her panties with her help.

Jade Once she was back where he wanted her, she felt the traveling of his hands against her sides where he would ultimately find the only two things stopping him. As he drew his knees apart, her ass found the bed between his legs just as he had planned, stealing the kiss from then as her eyes met his. Watching his features as he drew at the fabric of her panties, she lifted her hips to allow the fabric free at his guiding, drawing one leg  upwards there before him, through the opening, proving modesty was completely off the table for the woman as everyday had held a higher level of comfort in this capacity, thankful beyond words that he was the man she got to live it with. .

Orion Smirking lightly as he drew the fabric off all together. Stealing a kiss to the inside of her knee as she went as he'd reach for her hands to guide her back up. "You're so beautiful." He seemed to groan at her, unable to help himself.

Jade As the fabric was removed entirely, she felt his kiss to her inner knee, prompting a smile from the woman’s lips as she felt the intense attention to detail that would never fail to come from this man.  She placed her hand there in his, letting him guide her back to him.  As he spoke, her eyes met his, unable to argue with the man for he said it with such conviction.  Bringing her free hand to the back of his neck, she was drawing back into him in nothing but her t-shirt, nearly accomplishing the skin to skin contact he was after.  With no verbal response to what he had said, instead, she kissed him.  She kissed him as though he hadn’t just severed the last one, picking it up where the other left off, furthered by an intensity prompted in his words to her as confidence had never much been her friend, but it was hard not to be confident when he spoke this way.

Orion Pulling her into him as those compliments were not always easy for him. They turned him into jello. Weak. Stuttering. Yet, a stutter on a compliment to her showed just how taken a back he was with her and how honest it was. Not rehearsed or smooth but uniquely his own as his hands traveled down the sides of her thighs to lock her to him.

Jade Her legs easy wrapped back around him at the guiding of his hands.  Completely allowing him to guide her as he wanted her in this capacity, the trust she held in him was far higher than others had to have in similar positions.  She felt her trust in him deeply, knowing just how delicate it was.  Knowing she had his just the same was something of comfort as both of them faced things that were not typical hurdles.  Yet here they were.  Her hands slipped from the back of his neck to the backs of his arms, pulling against him as she drew her hips forward on his.  The skin to skin contact there had her bringing her hands down to the hem of her own t-shirt, prepared to break the kiss to get that much closer to him.

Orion Allowing their lips to break as he’d simply watch over her, reaching for the excess of the t-shirt to her sides as she seemed to swim in every shirt in one way or another. “So beautiful.” he’d repeat, unable to help himself as it seemed the words would bubble up and leak out of him. Just needing to pierce the tension as he wondered if she’d ever truly grasp how beautiful he did find her. Yet, not just in the flesh. Inside and out. The strength of the woman to overcome what she had and done the things she had yet still remain gentle and soft in her approach. That was true strength in his mind and he couldn’t help but admire her for it.

Jade The parting of that kiss wouldn't be nearly as regrettable as it usually was for her as she wanted the fabric of her own shirt gone just as much as he did. Her frame was still weaker than it once had been, standing as the only proof that she had ever been gone from him. In those months, she had not cared for herself at all. In a situation where she held no control, she had controlled the one thing she could. She would refuse meals and when she did eat, she would vomit profusely that evening in the privacy of her own quarters. Her state of being completely miserable wore against her into the present where her hip bones showed a little too much, effecting her overall image of herself that was already tarnished. With only a few pounds gained since her return, she wouldn't understand his words, but she loved the way they made her feel just the same. Working with him to remove her own shirt, she met his eyes a moment later. Moisture there in the corners of her eyes at just how he was with her, though she could never find the words to express this to him. Her hands returned to him, but not where they had been, instead taking the sides of his face where she would draw her lips to his once again, a tremble in her at the full realization of the depths of his love and affection for her, all the while knowing she was the lucky one.

Orion He had noted her weightloss as he naturally would though it wouldn’t become an issue until recently with this pregnancy where he would need to assure that she was eating and taking care of herself. It wasn’t just her anymore though that alone was incredibly important to him. Now it was two and they had twice the reason to assure she was healthy. Guiding her shirt off as his eyes would meet hers, spotting that bit of moisture was he had never wanted to make her cry here. Feeling her to his face as his lips returned to hers as he no doubt was so in love with her that it hurt and he always had been. Humming low to her kiss as his hand found the side of her neck.

Jade With her hands to either side of his face, her lips pressed to his, she felt his hand to the side of her neck, luring her in just as she did the same to him.  The moisture to the corners of her eyes was what it was.  It couldn’t be changed in that moment and though she wished she could hide it from him, she knew such a thing just wasn’t possible.  She was moved.  His words had been so simple and would have surely brought a smile to the features of any other woman, but she wasn’t any other woman, nor had she ever been.  She was realistic and she saw things and herself as they were.  Yet as he spoke those words to her, she knew that he meant them with all of himself.  She knew they weren’t to get her to perform here in any sort of way, nor were they to convince her to keep moving forward with him.  Just as much as she wasn’t any other girl, he wasn’t any other boy, and for that it seemed that the two would be perfectly matched for one another.  They were honest even where many would prefer honesty to be laid to the side and to know that he honestly thought that when he looked at her, it moved her to tears.  Drawing her hand down from the side of his face to find the curve of his upper arm, her touch was gentle even as she took a firmer hold against him.  “I so love you,” she whispered against his lips, never allowing the kiss to fully fall apart, yet the words would come forth from her in the most honest and organic manner as she had to say them, to breathe them into life, a confession to him of what he already knew.

Orion Knowing himself to be no match for the beauty he saw before him. He was a lucky man. Not particularly attractive in his own right though he had been assured that he was decent enough. Still, decent enough would not cut it for what was before him. Still, he was honored to be before her in the way he was. She wore his ring, it was his baby within her and he knew that with great certainty. “I love you.” he promised, speaking back to her lips as his thumb passed her jawline.

Jade Hearing the promise at his lips as his thumb followed the curve of her jawline, she felt her breath stolen from her for that moment.  It wasn’t the first time she’d feel this way before him as it seemed to happen more times than not, and yet each and every time it would still her entirely.  She’d no choice but to freeze before him as her eyes remained closed, feeling the words pass against her lips, only serving to intensify it for the woman.  She was well past the time of asking him why he loved her or what he saw in her as she already knew the answers to both, and yet still she’d remain in a state of amazement that a man such as him could love her the way he did, investing time in her from the very beginning when no one else might have bothered.  It was something she would forever not understand while being indefinitely blessed by the very same facts.  Feeling his love was something that she had always been able to do as it had never been held from her or kept away, freely passed from him to her in ways that would have terrified most people, yet Orion wasn’t most people.  They showed their love for one another in other ways all of those years, and yet now, since her return, they could finally express it in this way, a way that she had honestly never thought the two would achieve, both seemingly resolved to a life without it and perfectly satisfied by it, though what she’d find on the other side of things was redemption for an act long before destroyed in her mind.  Already the two had held several different positions and this would prove to be yet another as she lifted her ass from the bed beneath her where he had encouraged her for the removal of her panties and then for her shirt, followed by the urging of his hand to her thigh that would bring her legs to wrap around his mid-section, yet here she would unwind herself from around him a moment later.  Her hands found his shoulders as she pressed gently against him, encouraging him to lay back now that her legs were not in the way.  Leaning over him, she’d go with him, her knees pressing to the bed on either side of the man as her confidence seemed to grow each and every time they were together.  Pressing her lips softly to his, she withdrew from his kiss if only to meet his eyes with her own, intensity coursing through her to levels she was still getting used to, yet loving the fact that he could bring her to this place so easily and that she no longer felt an ounce of fear in being there with him as she knew that he had her, entirely, and always would.

Orion Feeling her unwind from him, part of him wanted to ask if he had done something wrong. They had come so far in so many ways yet he still always doubted himself on some deep, inexplainable level. Regardless, he loved the woman deeply and that love came before all else. Even his own insecurities which he was able to easily compartmentalize and cast away. Feeling her switch them over, he’d go easily enough. Watching her slip over him as her lips returned to his before their eyes met. Back to hers in a place that eye contact was nearly bearable before his eyes wandered to the curve of her lips.

Jade As she grew more confident in these spaces, she’d do her best not to ever draw back from him for too long in what was clearly just a position change, yet she knew that look in his eyes as she held the very same one each and every time he drew back from her.  Some things may never change while others may get better and regardless of the situation for this in particular, the woman was going nowhere.  Feeling him against her, their flesh no longer restrained by the limitations of fabric, she’d sit overtop of him, her fingertips ghosting down his chest.  Just the day before they had taken those bands to their hands and she had taken his name.  It was also the same day they had found out just what existed within her.  It was all a whirlwind, yet the two were moving slowly through each piece in the moments thereafter.  That morning, things hadn’t been all that different from normal.  She had still gotten up and walked the dog.  She had still made their coffee.  She had climbed back into bed with him just like a million mornings before, or at least the number there were since her return from Boston.  Nothing had changed, yet everything had changed all at the same time.  Leaning down, she pressed her lips to his shoulder, finally showing just what it was that she might have been searching for when she’d encouraged him to lay back.  Her lips trailing against his flesh, taking her time with him as she knew no other way.

Orion Allowing her to draw him back as he laid down against the heat of their bed. These sheets seemed to not know a moment of peace since the day before and he was quite happy to continuously inhabit them. Feeling her to his skin as he’d let her at it. Knowing she knew by now that him letting her have her access wouldn’t be taken as disinterest. It was merely letting her have control over him and them as a whole as his hand passed over her side and his other down the side of her thigh.

Jade Feeling the continuous contact from him, she’d read it as it was, knowing the same liberties would be given if their roles were reversed.  Her lips followed a path against him that would require her to shift further down him, her ass against his thighs as she drew lower and lower, yet never out of his reach.  A soft hum left her lips as she brought her hand between them, finding him with the palm of her hand in a touch that had once terrified her to no end.  No longer would he find fear in his wife’s eyes as she looked up towards him, a gentle kiss to the base of his stomach.  Although she knew there were no boundaries here, it wouldn’t stop that look from her eyes that would request his permission as such a glance was necessary for her own comfort as he well knew by now.

Orion Looking down towards her as she seemed to ask permission like usual, he’d glance down towards that ring on her finger and then his own attached to a hand pushing up her shoulder. “It’s yours.” he reminded her playfully as if she didn’t need to ask at all. Still, he’d always appreciate it as he would do the same for her. Knowing the two never wanted to push their luck which was a very real possibility. Here, he was giving his  consent and happily so as his teeth found his bottom lip.

Jade As he assured her of what was her own, her lips were still pressed to his lower abdomen where a smile would take hold even if he couldn’t see it.  It resonated through her eyes as she looked up at him, finding that bite at his lower tier.  Gently stroking his length that she had once been so fearful of, she lowered herself further, bringing her knees between his thighs, taking a position that was still so unfamiliar to her and yet she’d face it time and time again if only to get better, if only to satisfy him, each time building her confidence a little more.  As her hand worked his length, her lips parted, wrapping around the head of his cock with a caution about her, forever afraid to hurt him.  Taking him into the warm confines of her mouth, she let her eyes fall closed if only to focus, to shield her own teeth, as her hand worked against that which she could never hope to take within.

Orion Her need to build confidence would be well met in a piece of anatomy constantly ready for her. Every look, every touch. That ultimate goal as it seemed his memory and the mere touch of her skin worked together. Sending him off in an issue that had once been quite embarrassing. However, now it could be a compliment or annoying depending as he felt her hand find him. Inhaling deep and deeper still as he entered her lips. Never quite prepared for the feeling as his hand passed over the back of her shoulder as his eyes took her in with her own closed.

Jade The touch of his hand was the loudest encouragement that could be offered with her eyes closed, only surpassed by the sound of his breath as she knew what it took to draw it from him.  Her lack of confidence would be seen in those slow movements that were constantly questioned within her own mind.  Although she felt confident in many other aspects of their intimacy, this was one where she never quite knew if she was doing it right, if she was maximizing that feeling for him, if she was coming anywhere close to doing for him what he did for her regularly.  Lowering her head, she’d take more of him into the confines of her mouth only to withdraw again just as slowly as she’d taken him, ever mindful of her teeth as it stood to be her biggest fear here.  Knowing she couldn’t handle the thought of hurting him, yet it would restrict her in ways she didn’t yet understand.  Opening her eyes, she’d glance up if only for a moment, needing to see him and his reaction, needing the reassurance constantly in this regard.  Forever tempted to ask him directly, yet the words were too heavy for her to breathe into existence.  

Orion Feeling her head lower to bravely attempt more of him, knowing how careful she was and it was appreciated more than she realized. She was honest in these moments with her limitations yet he didn’t expect incredible things from her. Anything felt good to him and she had to know it. Even more so as her eyes opened and he’d meet hers, completely taken with the sight of her with his bottom lip still fixed under a row of enamel as his hand slipped against the back of her head to assure she knew this as his other traced over her shoulder.

Jade Opening her eyes from this position was something of wonder to the woman as she wasn’t entirely sure if it was appropriate, but she couldn’t keep herself from looking at the man, even more so since his name now had ‘husband’ attached to it, which was something to marvel at all in its own right.  Feeling his hand to the back of her head as she found the bite still there at his lower tier, she’d draw that confidence straight from the source as she lowered against him once more.  Her eyes closed for only a moment before they were back up to him, selfishly stealing the glimpse of him from this angle, wanting to see his reactions as she could already feel and hear them.  Breathing out against him, her heated breath came over him as she withdrew from him only to take him in once more.  Knowing it was possible to get a man to the point of release here, though she’d yet to find such a thing true for her, standing as proof there was more she could be doing, yet she couldn’t bring herself to ask.  Her hand rested at his thigh, tightening beyond her typical gentle grip as she attempted to hold that intensity back as she had to control it there in her mouth, not wanting to let things get away from her, though it wouldn’t take much to lose that control entirely.  Her pace quickened slightly as she found the ability to suck against him as she took him within her mouth, willing to try something that would be new to her as her eyes carefully watched to see if her efforts were for the positive or the negative.

Orion Watching her repeating her step which was all too good for him and only getting better as he felt her to his thigh. Grip tightening to match the rest of the intensity surging through them as nothing seemed out of place as her pace quickened. Fingers drifting through her hair as she’d find nothing but positive enforcement from the man who was eager to go on any ride she could take him. Still in the explorative times which were ironic considering most would have been far from those by now, he was happy for it. Now the two could be here and still have it somewhat new when they were married and truly beginning the rest of their lives. A beautiful concept if nothing else.

Jade Finding reassurance in every move the man made, knowing he was offering it to her, though she wouldn’t know if he knew just how much she needed it.  Each pass of his hand against her, each connection between their eyes, all worked together to tell her to continue on, that what she was doing was working for him, that her inexperience here was not a burden to him as they learned one another one small step at a time.  They worked in their own time in their own way and were not held to the bounds of societal standards that would state that they should know all of these things by now.  Instead, it was their way, as it always had been, and for that she would be eternally grateful.  An accidental hum passed her lips as her eyes remained focused in on his, moved to the gesture without the knowledge of what it could do for him there.

Orion Feeling her hum through all of him as he took in a deep breath. Accidental stimulation in the best kind of way as his fingers wound within those still growing tresses that might not anytime soon reach the length of which they were when she left him yet that was okay. He’d accept her in any form as he had already shown as he loved her for who she was underneath it all. Granted, he was made all the more lucky for that incredible exterior. Fingers drawing tighter into her hair by no purpose of his own.

Jade The tension in his hand within those shorter locks of hair would speak more loudly than anything else in that moment to the woman who wouldn’t immediately understand what had started it.  It would take a moment before she’d draw in a breath just to do it again if only to test the waters, to see if it had been that same occurrence a moment before that had drawn his fingers tightly through her hair.  Her eyes were to his as she watched, noting the response in the man as she’d commit this to memory, wanting more than anything to know how to get him there, to know what she could do to satisfy him in this capacity.  Her own hand tightened against his inner thigh as she drew a bit further down his length, her tongue massaging against the lower curve of him within her mouth as that hum vibrated through his length where her hand worked steadily against the base of his cock.

Orion Smirking lazily as she hummed once more and he felt it entirely through him, never having thought before that such a thing would feel good as it truly defied all logic for a very logical man. Yet, that was consumed with the primal basics of human anatomy and for once? He was okay with that as he immediately got the impression that she intended to take him all the way with the feeling of her pushing against him with both hand and mouth and entirely filling his gut with the warmth of building heat and pressure as he knew of only one way to release this and she did as well.

Jade If there was anything that she’d learned in her time with him in this capacity, it was that look on his face.  It was the way he tensed up before he’d release.  It was how she swore she could smell the desire for that release against him.  A moment before, she’d wondered how a woman could bring a man to that release point from this position and in just a few minute’s time, she’d find the answer to it.  Although she wanted more than this, wanting to feel him herself, the temptation to bring him to that release from this position alone was almost too great for her to pass up.  She didn’t know what she’d do.  She didn’t know if he’d do it.  She didn’t know anything and for once in her life, she didn’t mind not knowing.  She’d continue on, giving up the potential for something more beyond this as she drew off of him only to take him within her once again, allowing his skin to cool for the moment so that the warmth of her mouth would be sudden to him once again.  The hum passed her lips as she took him near to the back of her throat, not pushing into the confines of her throat as she wouldn’t even think of such a thing, but feeling him within her mouth to the full capacity she could manage before that hum would radiate through her to his length as her hand steadily worked at him.  Diligently continuing on as she committed, leaving it to him if he’d be satisfied with just this.

Orion "Jade." He warned, unable to manage anything else. All words were gone but just this one of her name. A warning she'd hopefully recognize as he didn't have the stamina for it. They were still working one another out though he wasn't sure he'd ever be entirely able to draw back that pleasure. Fingers drawn against her. Feeling that brief break before she was back to it and better yet worse than ever as he'd finally close his eyes in attempt to summon up some deeply held resistance.

Jade As he spoke her name, she wouldn’t be sure of the context, thinking for a moment that he was just saying her name within the throes of passion, yet as she cut her eyes upward, she’f find that was not to be the case at all.  It was either a warning or a request, of which she could not be sure, but as she felt the tension in his hand as his eyes closed, she seemed to know she couldn’t stop this for him.  Ultimately, it was all she could possibly want, to please him entirely, to have her name there at his lips, to offer soft hums by way of the new trick she had discovered against him.  Bringing her hand back to the base of his cock, she’d work his length while she drew back, allowing that same opportunity for a cooling sensation before she would more confidently take him again.

Orion The woman was imposing her will clearly as he felt her continue. Not wanting to stop nor would he force her as the warning had been given and his true intentions had been clear. Exhaling an audible breath as she continued at him. Feeling the addition of her hand to him as he took in the feeling of her. Opening his eyes as he glanced down towards her once more. Another one of those damned bums leaving him reeling as he was entirely at her willing and bidding at this point. Stuck between a rock and a hard place as he selfishly couldn't do anything but enjoy.

Jade Her eyes had closed when his had, committing to that which she had taken upon herself.  She would miss the look of him as he looked down at her, but she would not miss that exhale that spoke loudly to her in that moment.  It had been a warning a moment before, she was sure of it.  Although she knew she could draw back in that very moment, she wouldn’t do it as a slight alteration of her head for her own comfort would accidentally stimulate a space against that lower curve of his cock that she had not formerly been able to reach, finding herself a fresh set of nerves to set on fire.  Massaging her tongue against him as her pace quickened, attempting to replicate what she knew her hips wanted to do in that very moment.

Orion As she found that new and unfamiliar patch of nerves, he'd draw in sharp and know his game had been lost quicker than he'd expect. Quicker than he wanted to as he gave up a low groan. A mere moment before his release bubbling to the surface and within the confines of her mouth as his hand tightened to the back of her neck. The intensity like electricity surging how through him despite all his best attempts as the woman accidentally forced him over the edge all too easily. Something he knew he'd need to work on but it just felt entirely too good to him in these moments even though it had already gotten him in trouble.

Jade The groan at his lips matched the tension in his hand as she opened her eyes to look up at him, nearly tasting his release before he would let go entirely into the confines of her mouth.  She did not know just what she had gotten herself into, not entirely knowing what to do here, though the natural response was to take several swallows in the course of his release, hiding the evidence of his release as she took in every drop, never fully stilling against him as she milked him for all of it.  The taste was not at all what she had expected it to be, yet she would allow for no discomfort or dissatisfaction to come across her features.  In all truth, it was the most incredible feeling for her to feel his seed within her mouth, burning hot against the back of her throat as she slowly drew off of him once she was sure she had taken all of it from him.  Pressing her lips to his inner thigh, she’d draw a breath there against him, resting her aching jaw as her hand slipped free of him entirely.

Orion Letting his head thump back on the pillow with a deep exhaled breath as he was thoroughly winded in that moment and not even quite able to comprehend how it had happened. The feeling of guilt and inadequacy would be a few moments later. Yet, for now, the sweep of euphoria as it settled through him. His hand passing over the side of her neck as he remained in contact as he felt her to his thigh. Needing to apologize once he was recovered but another thing put on the back burner for a moment as his eyes opened to look up towards the ceiling.

Jade As he leaned back, she lost that visual of his features as he gave in to the feeling that settled in over him in the moments beyond his release.  She felt his hand there to the side of her neck, forever in contact with her in some manner throughout, for which she offered her silent gratitude.  Pressing her lips to his inner thigh, she’d make her way up higher, pressing another to his hip before finding his lower abdomen, maintaining the intimacy that had begun what seemed to be so long before.  Her lips pressed a series of kisses up his chest until she’d find the side of his neck, leaning off to the side of him as she was careful not to let herself press against the sensitivity she understood to exist against him beyond his release.  Finding a place there beside him, yet against him at the same time, she’d position herself as her lips pressed another kiss to the curve of his neck before finding his shoulder, not entirely confident enough to kiss him with what had just been within her mouth as she wasn’t sure where he’d stand on the matter, willing to brush her teeth first if he’d require it, yet she wasn’t jumping from the bed as she sought this closeness at every turn.

Orion Feeling her trailing up him, he'd swear he would have released again if he hadn't already. All together incredibly sensitive from it all as that kiss to his neck sent chills up his spine and shivers through him as he exhaled slow. Lips to her cheek as he didn't know his own position on it all yet. "I'm sorry." He'd confess softly, unable to work up much more at that moment but just that.

Jade Hearing that slow exhale at his lips before his apology broke the comfortable silence, she lifted her head from where she was to prop her chin against his chest.  “You have nothing to be sorry for,” she assured him as he’d done nothing wrong.  Her hand rested idly against his chest, drawing shapes of nothingness against his chest as she kept her eyes focused in attempt to find his.  “That was incredible,” she stated honestly.

Orion "I didn't want to." He reminded her, so nothing seemed incredible about it. Just another failure. The first one leaving her pregnant and now this. Feeling her to his chest and only able to think the woman deserved better but still knew no different then his testy and underdeveloped stamina that was nothing less than honest about his experience levels.

Jade “I wanted you to,” she whispered, having heard his warning minutes before and knowing what that would mean, and yet she was the one that had made the decision to remain where she had been, to take him that much further, to prompt that release into her own mouth where she could experience something with him, and yet he didn’t seem too happy about it.  She bit against her lower tier as her hand stilled against his chest.  “Should I have come off instead?” she asked, her own uncertainty displaying itself.

Orion "No." he'd answer simply, letting it be before the buck got unnecessarily passed off as he had simply thought she wanted more in that moment but could have been wrong and so he'd let it rest. Still curious as to her own condition but not quite sure how to ask if she wanted his help. Eyes to hers as he didn't regret it for the experience but simply because he did not want to be selfish and enjoy himself without her.

Jade Hearing his answer, she pressed a kiss to his chest where her hand had stilled a moment before.  She had wanted to do it for him with no regard for her own desires in that moment and found herself far more satisfied and aroused by the act than she ever could have imagined it being.  Lifting from his side, she pressed another kiss to his cheek before meeting his eyes.  “I’m going to brush my teeth and I’ll be right back,” she offered, deciding for the both of them how that was surely supposed to work as she did not want to make him uncomfortable any more than she potentially already had.

Orion "Okay." He stated simply as she lifted from him, nodding simply as he would play it by ear. Attempting to read her which was always a dangerous game for a man who didn't know the language of this book. Yet, still, he'd wait for the woman. Plotting, planning in ways thought ridiculous but it was surely the only way he knew how.

Jade When he made no attempt to stop her from leaving the bed, she knew she had made the right judgment call there, thus setting the precedent for what would need to happen each and every time that she might do this, should he allow her again.  Slipping off the edge of the bed, she made her way into the bathroom where she’d leave the door open while she stood at the sink, entirely bare and with no shame as he had instilled a confidence and trust that would leave her a different woman than she had been upon her return to Boston.  While waiting for the water to warm for her toothbrush, she looked back over her own shoulder where she could see him lying there in the bed, only able to wonder what it was the man could be thinking about in her absence, and yet the answer would surely surprise her as it always seemed to.  

Orion Watching her as she had left the door open. His mind finally running blank as she derailed him entirely. The sight of her bare would never cease to distract. A tilt of his head as it finally came undone and he'd manage a slight smile. "You're lucky I'm not a poet." He'd confess, as she was surely the kind that inspired the worlds most famous love poems and sonnets that graced the Facebook page of every lovesick teenager in history.

Jade Turning back towards the sink, she’d hear his confession that would spark her interest entirely.  “Why is that?” she asked as she ran her toothbrush under the water, lining it with toothpaste before turning around and leaning against the counter’s edge while she brushed against her teeth.  Allowing herself to admire his own form from where she stood, her smile was hard to conceal, even as she brushed against her teeth to clean her mouth entirely where she might once again press her lips to his.

Orion "Because you'd have books named after you." Answered like it was the simplest suggestion in the world, sprawled out the way she had left him as he remained heartily concentrated on every breath she took and motion she made in what should have been simple. Caught up and drunk on her atmosphere.

Jade The suggestion alone would bring on a slew of potential book titles if they should be written about her life, about her, though surely none of them would be quite what that man lying on that bed would be thinking about as she’d never see herself exactly as he did, though it was an opinion that was ever changing and evolving within her own mind.  Turning back around to the sink, she’d rinse her brush and expel the liquid from her mouth before giving a thorough rinsing of the area.  Once she was finished, she would turn off the water and place her brush next to his before returning to the bedroom and to the bed where he laid.  Taking no time to find her place against him once more as though she had never left in the first place, her hand found his inner thigh as her lips pressed to his shoulder.  “It would be an Italian tragedy in the beginning, but it would end in the greatest love story of all time,” she assured before her lips found the man’s cheek.

Orion Watching as she returned as she found his thigh and shoulder. Hearing her remark, he'd hum low. "Maybe." He'd comment, feeling her to his cheek. "But it would last for centuries. Sacred and beautiful." He'd comment as his head turned and he found her own cheek.

Jade With the pairing of his words with the feeling of his lips to her own cheek, she drew an even breath just beside his ear.  “I have not done one single thing in my life deserving of the man that you are,” she assured as she knew it to be true, forever finding him to be so much more than she was ever to have and yet for all of her life it seemed, he had been there.  Her hand drew upwards to find his stomach, eventually making a slow passage across him to find his other side, drawing herself to press against his side as she turned her head slowly to capture his lips with her own.

Orion "Nice try." Her attempt at modesty would earn a shake of his head as he didn't believe that for a moment. Everything in her life had her written in the stairs as having something great and tangible. Even if he himself did not feel like he was such a thing in the first place. Feeling her find his side. Pressing his own lips back to hers as his hand found the back of her neck. Encouraging her kiss and forward progression to him.

Jade Before she could say another word, her lips were to his and she felt his hand to the back of her neck, assuring she could not escape the power of their lips united together.  She whined against his lips as he had gotten the last word on the subject as her hand tensed against his side.  Drawing her leg carefully over his, her foot rested just against his inner calf, easily intertwining herself with him once again although she was seeking nothing more than this from him, knowing she had already taken him to a finish line that could not be undone.  

Orion Feeling her slip over him and taking that as exactly what he wanted to feel in that moment. Hearing her whine as his free arm drew around her and held her in close. Smirking softly to her lips as he had won that argument. Drawing back briefly long enough to utter "no argument?" Only to return to her lips and interrupt her argument.

Jade “I…” she nearly began before his lips were to hers once again, prompting a broad smile at the woman’s lips that would flash the dimpled cheeks as well as cause interruption in the kiss he sought to trap her within.  Pulling back from his kiss, against the tension in his hand to find his eyes.  “I stand by my previous statement,” she offered as her only argument before she was pressing her lips back to his just as firmly, demanding that he kiss her entirely without trying to leave her kiss again.

Orion "You have no previous statement...'I' is not a statement." He'd remind her before her lips were back to his. Detecting her intention and her intensity there as he had met her eyes briefly enough as his hand slipped down the back of her neck and now over her shoulder. Tilting his head to allow the depth of that kiss to grow naturally between them as his free hand was traveling down her side.

Jade She had a previous statement before the last one, which was the one she was standing by, and yet he had found a way to take it away from her.  Feeling the shift of his hand to her shoulder and then to her side, her own hand slipped up and to the back of his neck, giving him the feel of her side while assuring he could not leave her lips in the immediate moment following.  Her lips pressed firmly to his as her new argument, a kiss with more intensity than the gentleness her lips typically provided, her tongue sweeping the part of his lips to assure he could not say another word.

Orion Feeling her at the part of his lips, knowing what she was doing but letting her think she'd win as he parted for her. All too naturally with a sort of ease that accompanied them on most things now days as the two gained more ground with one another than ever before in bounds and leaps. A miracle all on its own as her pregnancy announcement would probably mimic that shock that the two had even done it in the first place.  Tongue already drawing to hers as his fingers passed down her spine.

Jade The parting of his lips was met with the entrance of her tongue within the confines of his mouth to find his tongue just as seemingly eager for her taste as she was for him.  Feeling his fingers down her spine, she felt a wave of chills run throughout her frame, prompting her hips to draw against his thigh as she drew into him more closely than she had been a moment before, though there wasn’t much closer she would be able to get at this point.  With her hand to the back of his neck, her fingertips would tighten against his flesh, speaking loudly to the reaction she had beneath his touch.

Orion Feeling her draw in closer as she was prompting a slow build of bravery in him to just touch her. Without permission, without prompting. Inhaling evenly as he felt her to the back of his neck as her tongue met his. An exchange that would never lose its power as his fingers traveled to the base of her spine. Still not liking how much he could feel her in such a manner but knowing the pregnancy would help and change that.

Jade As his hand passed down to her lower back, she would not dare stop him from taking the touch of her in whatever means he saw fit as she knew it showed growth on both of their parts.  Truly a miracle that she was in this state at all, considering before she had gone to Boston, such a thing would have never been possible, nor would she have believed someone if they said it would be so in less than a year.  Her tongue smoothed against his as his taste flooded her entirely, drawing her to shift her hips slightly against his side before she was drawing back from that kiss and all that it might suggest.  “I can’t kiss you like that and not be able to have you,” she confessed by whisper, knowing he had already cum and thinking that it would mean he could again.  Her arousal all too prevalent as the scent took between her thighs.  Taking a deep breath, she wanted him, there was no doubt in such an assumption, but she would do her best here to bring herself down from it before the desire became too strong.

Orion Feeling her draw back and now knowing her business on it all. He'd nod simply at her confession. "You'll never not be able to have me." He reminded her as his hand by her hip would venture down further. Slipped between her legs as his palm took to the shape of her inner thigh as he pushed deeper towards the heat of her sex.

Jade As he spoke, she wasn’t so sure.  She had previously found out from him how sensitive he was after a release and she’d be more than careful to be sure her leg did not brush against him at all for that purpose alone.  “I don’t want to hurt you,” she confessed as she felt his hand shifting against her abdomen, between her thighs, against the source of her heat.  Naturally lifting her hips to his touch, she bit against her lower tier as her eyes met his, knowing he had found a way to continue the intimacy between them that she couldn’t quite bring herself to resist.

-February 7, 2017

[xbostonsfinestx-blog]

Zoë. | GROUP Text Alert!!! From: MOM / To: JADE, ZOE LANE || || TEXT:: Found this video of my cute little girl on my phone today. Do you remember this girls? :: 

Bоstои's Fїиest Yeah... what happened to her?

Zoë. Ha. She's even cuter now ;) But no moms, I don't actually remember this. Rely on Jade's memory for that one.

Bоstои's Fїиest Oh, here we go... yeah, afraid my memory's a little sketchy on this one too.

Zoë. We're so helpful. Who's the other chic? Jade?

Bоstои's Fїиest No way. You see how tall she is?!

Zoë. Ehhh true. You two got anymore of these random videos?

Bоstои's Fїиest Someone feeling sentimental tonight?

Zo. Possibly?

Bоstои's Fїиest Someone drunk?

Zo. I wish. But no. Someone just wants to know if there are other videos out there that I don't remember starring in ;)

-December 28, 2016

[xbostonsfinestx-blog]

Bоstои's Fїиest Waking up late into the day, she turned on her side to come face to face with a growing puppy, cocking his head to the side, wondering why she was still in bed.  She groaned her response and got up to take him outside, already knowing he would not make it too much longer without.  “I’ll be back,” she whispered into Orion’s ear, pressing a kiss against his cheek before she was getting dressed and out the door.  Arriving back about fifteen minutes later, she turned Crash loose off the leash and went to the coffee pot where she’d have to start a pot with the strange hour it was.  Letting off a yawn, she reached for her phone on the counter where she’d left it the night before, loading her voicemail and scanning through the visual messages.  A few minutes later, she was bringing two cups of coffee into the bedroom, climbing back into bed beside Orion as though it were six in the morning instead of six at night, letting Orion wake up hopefully more slowly than she did before she had to hit him with the dose of reality that she’d found on her phone.  

o.м.ĸ. Not even the smell of coffee could succeed in waking him this time. Broad ribcage rising and falling with each deep breath. Skin seeming to thin over the bone and sinew with each inhale as he sprawled out on his back. Seeming to take up more than half the bed even without her within it truly with him.

Bоstои's Fїиest Placing his coffee cup on the side table with hers there beside it, she drew into his side. Resting her head in the curve of his shoulder, she pressed a kiss there to his chest, attempting to lure him from his sleep as gently as possible, having a feeling he'd be disappointed if they wasted any more of their day there in that bed.

o.м.ĸ. As she drew into his side, the man would feel the heat of her to him. A slight lift of his breath as he showed it would be a slow awakening for whatever she needed from him.

Bоstои's Fїиest The alteration of his breath spoke to his state, yet she knew he was still far from awake. "Hey O? I brought coffee," she attempted, another kiss placed to his chest, yet it was clear he was going to need some time to wake up from that which had exhausted him ten hours prior.

o.м.ĸ. Hearing her spake, his brows would draw upwards as he may have been overly tired by now. Eyes finally opening as he took a drowsy look at the alarm clock. Not noting the AM or PM in that moment as it quickly registered alarm. "What time is it?" he asked, as the time was dark regardless.

Bоstои's Fїиest "A little after six," she confessed, not meaning to withhold the a.m. or p.m. from him, yet she did just the same. "Poor Crash was just as confused, I think," she mentioned, giving a slight indication that it was probably not morning.

o.м.ĸ. "Six what?" he prompted, hand lifting as he rubbed his face before his eyes went back to the alarm clock to find the PM behind it which relieved him but made him more confused. "Coffee?

Bоstои's Fїиest "P.M.," she confessed as he found it there for himself on the clock. Hearing his question, she nodded her head, sitting up from him to reach over for his cup. Reaching over, she brought the cup back with her where she sat up on the bed beside him, steadying it for him until he was awake enough to take it.

o.м.ĸ. Taking a breath as his brain turning on this quickly was nearly violent for the man as she brought the coffee with her. Not asking for it but questioning why it was there. Why did he need this? Giving up for the moment. he'd lean up slowly as he propped himself up on that headboard. A loud yawn before he was reaching out to take that coffee. Narrowly avoiding spilling it.

Bоstои's Fїиest Watching him as he got situated there against the headboard, she gave up the coffee to him, waiting until he was fully stable with it before she'd let her hand slip back from the bottom of it. "I didn't know what to do waking up this late, so I made coffee. And while I was waiting on it, I got a voicemail from my boss at the bureau." She began, looking over at him as the awkwardness of her demeanor was about to be explained. "I'm not reinstated, but they are willing to give me a recommendation for law enforcement..."

o.м.ĸ. Hearing her continue and mention her boss, he'd glance over. Looking down at the top of his coffee cup as he estimated that he would definitely spill it on himself should he try to bring it to his lips. Eyes back to hers. "which was?"

Bоstои's Fїиest "Whatever I want it to be," she replied, though she wasn't entirely sure how she even felt about this yet. Though she hadn't been sure she wanted the bureau back, she wasn't sure she wanted it taken from her either. "I just have to let him know what I want and it's mine, but the bureau can't invest further due to 'residual field damage' on my last undercover op." She quoted the man's message, her tone of voice indicating a bit of disappointment there in the woman even if she wasn't fully speaking of her feelings on the loss there.

o.м.ĸ. "Mmm..." the man would answer, brows drawing as he wasn't quite sure what to think. Looking back down into his coffee as if the answer would appear there. "Are you upset?"

Bоstои's Fїиest "I was only there for that purpose, ya know? I never wanted to /be/ an agent. It was just the only way to do what needed to be done. So it's done and it's only right that I'm done too, right?" she asked, not truly sure if she was upset or not, yet clearly she was disappointed and clearly trying to rationalize the loss.

o.м.ĸ. "Unless you wanted to be there." he answered, not quite getting the rhetorical part of that as he finally was brave enough to drag the coffee to his lips. Taking a mouthful and only managing to spill a bit on himself. Thumbing off the stream and wiping his hand clean on his boxers. "You know, this is the kind of career autonomy that anyone in this work force would kill for."

Bоstои's Fїиest She supposed he was right, nodding her head along with that which he'd presented as a means of coping. She was afforded an opportunity there, even if she did have to face the facts that the psych evals had failed her. Failure didn't look right on the woman, nor did she know how to process it properly, yet there they were. "Suppose I can figure it all out on our trip," she suggested, thinking some time away right now might just be the best thing for the both of them.

o.м.ĸ. "I agree." the man would add simply, still not sure of her reaction of this news though he suspected it hurt her alot deeper than she'd confess. "I'm sorry that you are disappointed.&

Bоstои's Fїиest Hearing him assign that word to what she was feeling, he wasn't wrong. She lowered her head slightly, only able to stick to the facts for so long here before it was what it was. She drew an uneven breath as she focused her eyes against his boxers, tracing the lines with her eyes. "I am disappointed," she confessed quietly, biting against her lower lip. She hadn't known what she wanted to happen with those evals, but she didn't want to fail. She'd lied her ass off in them, and it wasn't enough. Drawing a deep breath, she let her eyes lift to find his, her hand lifting to the man's thigh. "Are you?"

o.м.ĸ. Thinking that it was her attempt to not fail which had led her to the status of that evaluation, he himself thought it best. Hearing her question though, he wasn't quite ready to explain that to her as it seemed far too fresh. He shook his head. "No...but my reasons are innately selfish given that being in the FBI means undercover work is inevitable."

Bоstои's Fїиest She hadn't thought of it that way. She promised him they'd never spend another night apart and maybe this was how she was to keep that promise, but it didn't soften the failure as much as she might've liked it to. She nodded her head, relieved that he wasn't disappointed in her as that paired with her own might be too much to take. "You're allowed to be selfish," she assured him.

-December 28, 2016

[xbostonsfinestx-blog]

Zoë. Sending the sister dirty messages... because I'm angelic like that ;) #GetTheHandGoing 

Bоstои's Fїиest "Why? Just... why????"

Zoë. - because i know your jaw drops halfway to hell... and that brings satisfaction to my life like nothing else...

Bоstои's Fїиest "How about we try to keep it classy, Zo?"

Zoë. - .... that was.

Bоstои's Fїиest "I don't know about all of that..."

Zoë. - Don't question greatness ;)

-November 11, 2016

[xbostonsfinestx-blog]

Zoë. Shout out to the big seester for finally joining my social fans ;) #MightHaveKilledHerToClickFollow 

Bоstои's Fїиest Fumbles with the freaking app, not even understanding the point of it. Finally finds the freaking 'heart' and clicks it. "Why are you pound signing me?"

Zoë. // Mother of God help you, woman! It's a hashtag. Wait, don't even ask. // Rolls eyes and hits send.

Bоstои's Fїиest "It's a pound sign and you play tic tac toe on it. I do not have time to play tic tac toe with you, Zo..."

Zoë. // ... there are no words. ///

Bоstои's Fїиest "And yet, somehow, you'll be alright."

Zoë. // I'm a survivor!!! //

Bоstои's Fїиest "I just can't."

-October 30, 2016

[xbostonsfinestx-blog]



-October 22, 2016

[xbostonsfinestx-blog]

Jade The following morning, Jade would wake well rested there against her husband without any desire to move right away.  Her fingertips softly smoothed against his chest as she drew in his scent, her eyes remaining closed as she simply enjoyed those first moments of the day stolen from the man as he was sleeping there beside her.  This would continue for the better part of ten minutes before the whine of a puppy outside of the bedroom door would draw her attention, demanding that this moment be stolen as he made his own needs known.  Bringing one hand to the back of her own shoulder, she was lifting Orion’s hand slowly, attempting not to wake him as she drew his arm out from around her so that she could find her way off the bed to get Crash out before there was a mess to clean up.

Orion Not startled at all by the push of her hand as the man was in deep even as she found her way out of his hold. Once she was out of bed, merely, pressing to his side as if to replicate that warmth. The dog more than likely well overdue for a bathroom break yet he had been getting better with the training thanks to his classes despite the fact that it was difficult to explain that their dog required puppy classes though he seemed to know how to dog just fine.

Jade Making her way there off the edge of the bed, it seemed as though he was still asleep which was more than pleasing to her.  Taking careful steps to the dresser, she pulled out a pair of jogging pants and a sweatshirt, pulling them on to go out into the cool morning air.  Opening the bedroom door, she slipped out, careful not to let the puppy into the bedroom in the process.  “Good morning,” she offered to Crash as he ran to the door to sit and wait for her to connect the leash, which she’d do a moment later.  Going from the woman who didn’t know how to own a pet to the one that was getting out of bed to take him for a walk in just those short weeks since he’d come home, bonding with him a little more every day.  

Orion Even if the man was awake and not nearly cradling his pillow, he’d let her take this one. Not because of laziness or not wanting to but because he wanted the two of them to bond. Crash was Jade’s dog first and foremost. For her protection and he didn’t want the dog to be confused with that despite the fact that they lived together. That meant assuring that she was feeding him and taking him out despite his best instincts to do so for the dog as well. Still, the man was too far asleep for any of that and uncommonly so as it might have reminded him of the medicated sleep he would have once achieved when she had been gone.

Jade Stretching on her way there to the door, her body aching from the night before with Orion in celebration of their nuptials, she leaned her head to one side and then the other, which Crash then copied.  Picking up on this copy cat game the pup had joined in on, she laughed as she connected the leash to his collar.  “Alright, c’mon,” she stated, unlocking a series of locks at the door before the two were heading outside into the cold Boston air.  Yawning all the while as she attempted waking herself up the rest of the way, she felt well rested, but it didn’t mean she wouldn’t rather still be there in that bed with the man who she now called her husband.  Fifteen minutes later, the two would be making their way back inside, up those stairs, back into the apartment a little colder than they had been when they left.

Orion Still unknowingly in the depths of that sleep and winded from the night before as he typically was. Not sure he’d ever get used to such activities so regularly as it seemed to knock him out each time as he curled deeper into the bed and blankets. As if knowing the chill out in that air as the Northern winds rose up the Eastern seaboard leaving it impossible to warm up yet he loved the cold for reasons he’d never quite understand.

Jade Once she and Crash were back in the apartment, she was flipping the locks back in place, half expecting him to be awake by the time she returned at the sound of her leaving the apartment, but much to her surprise, the coffee wasn’t brewing and he was no where to be seen.  Putting Crash’s food into the bowl, she followed it up with fresh water before she was tugging her shoes and jacket off before making her way back to the bedroom.  Opening the door, this time leaving it open, she found him still in the same space she’d left him.  A soft smile graced her lips as she crawled back into bed, her hands a little colder than they’d been a little while before.  Curling up against him, the chill easily felt against her skin and clothes as she drug the blanket up over her own shoulders, using him for warmth as she found her space beside and against him.

Orion Feeling the chill instantly as nothing would jar him just as quick as he felt it seek out his bare skin. Eyes opening to glance out over towards her as he flashed her a telling glance. Arms slipping over her to pull her into him with intentions of warming her up both for her and his sake as he pressed his face into the side of her neck and resettled himself.

Jade As his arms took her in, she formed against him, the slightest tremble in her being as his face found the side of her neck.  “Sorry, O,” she whispered, an apology there at her lips as she knew it was her fault he was jolted from sleep in the manner in which he had been.  “Crash made me go outside,” she confessed as though she were taken there at gunpoint.  A deep breath there, she drew in his scent, conveniently still laced with her own as she drew him into her own embrace as much as he did for her.  “It’s cold as hell out there,” she whispered, intentionally letting the irony lay there as hell was notoriously spoken for as hot.  “Keep me in bed all day and don’t make me leave again?”  A request there at her lips, though it would surely mean further physical exhaustion for the both of them.  It had been a long road to that physical contact they had recently discovered, yet he’d created a monster once her walls were broken down as she was bordering the edge of becoming a complete addict for the man and the intimacy she found within him.

Orion “Hell isn’t cold…” catching on just as expected for even when he was half asleep, he didn’t like such statements. “Though it doesn’t exist…even if it did. It’s proximity to the core of the earth means it’ll be on the receiving end of some apparent 10,800º degrees which is around the heat of the sun though how that number was generated starts me off on another rant…” interrupted by a yawn, he nodded at the suggestion though he had never meant to make her leave in the first place.

Jade Fingertips stroked at the back of his neck as he spoke, knowing she should have known better than to make such a statement.  With a soft hum there at her lips, she pressed a kiss to the curve of his neck before his yawn was interrupting him and that line of thinking.  “Ten thousand, eight hundred degrees… and yet your wife is hotter than that for you,” she promised him there to his neck, another kiss pressed to his skin.  Soft strokes of her fingertips there to the base of his neck as she felt her body temperature beginning to rise as his efforts to warm her were slowly taking effect.  

Orion “My wife is cold.” he corrected once more as she was freezing as a matter of fact as his hands found the back of her shirt in attempt to create friction and warm her. Feeling her against the base of his neck. Still amazed at how naturally that word was coming yet he had always known that should he ever get married, it would be to this woman. Everyone knew that. She was his red-tailed hawk mated for life whether the two liked it or not.

Jade “Not physically, O,” she complained as she felt him there at her back attempting to warm her flesh.  “I was flirting with you,” she whispered, a reminder there to the side of his neck as she pressed another kiss there to his flesh.  “That’s where you tell me how hot you are for me and then we figure out a way to actually warm me up,” she teased, continuing on this flirtatious line of speaking there though it was quite awkward coming from her lips.  “Not in numbers or degrees, just tell me you’re hot for me.”

Orion “That’s not flirting, that’s lying!” he teased, knowing what she was saying now but it still wouldn’t help him as he drew his head back to meet her eyes apologetically. Hearing her continue with what he was supposed to say but the words would be nothing less than strange coming from his lips. “I’ll tell you I’m ‘hot�� for you if you tell me that you are my red-tailed hawk and I am yours…” he compromised, ridiculous for ridiculous as they could find a way to meet in the middle.

Jade “You’re my…” she offered, pausing, a slow smile there to her lips as she met his eyes.  “You’re my lobster.”  Giving up her version of his red-tailed hawk sentiment with a tilt of her head as if to silently ask if it worked, quickly pressing her lips to his as if to assure him that it meant about the same.  Drawing back from his lips, she was quick to add in his statement as well.  “… And my red-tailed hawk and you are mine and you don’t ever have to worry about spending a single night without me ever again,” she added, a confident nod of her head as she made a promise to him that she’d made once before since her return, knowing now more than ever that it was time she figure shit out for herself professionally to where never again would the man have to face a day and night without her in it.

Orion “I don’t want to be an arthropod…” he added with a pout as the animals had their draw back including growth induced molting leaving them especially vulnerable. Ready to explain this to her before her lips found his. Silencing him briefly before she’d agree. “A red-tailed hawk will self-mutilate in the absence of their mate by plucking their own feathers.” he seemed to warn as if a sign for things to come should she go against that promise as if he had not already proved his own version of plucking feathers.

Jade Hearing him pointing out just what this hawk would do if separation occurred, it took her instantly to another day, another time, when she saw a bit of that which he had done while she was away.  “I don’t want you to ever have to face that again,” she whispered quietly there to his lips as she turned from his kiss to find the comfort of the curve of his neck, luring him into her as the reminder was nearly too much for the woman to stomach.  Never again would he be alone, forever with her or their child, but never again alone.  By the end, he might be wishing for a minute alone, but he’d never really find it.  Holding him close to her, she drew in tighter, comforting a man who might not have needed it, but she did and so it was happening.

Orion Not speaking of his own experience though he supposed as he thought about it, it reflected it. “I didn’t mean to threat…I was just talking.” he confessed, as he realized how that sounded. Stay with me or I’ll hurt myself? Hardly Orion’s style as she had to realize by now. Yet, it wasn’t a complete lie. He’d fall back into old coping mechanisms as he felt her draw in tighter to him and he’d do the same to her in response as his hand smoothed down her back.

Jade “Okay,” she whispered softly, knowingly even.  She knew she didn’t know everything that had transpired in her own absence, but she knew enough to know that she’d never put the man through that again.  Thankfully, there should never arise another need to as she’d completed that mission and it was to be over at that.  Her personal assignment there as well as her profession, leaving her a true blank slate as she laid there in his hold, holding him.  “I so love you,” she promised there to the curve of his neck, the words falling from her lips easily as her hand found the back of his head, letting her eyes close there as she simply held the man, not even holding him to the ‘hot’ statements any longer as this had taken precedence over any mindless flirting.

Orion “And I love you.” he answered without hesitation as he loved her to pieces in ways he had never quite expected. He had always thought that the feeling and emotion might allude him yet here it was sheerly chemical. Especially with the introduction of the life created between them which opened him up to elements of love that he would never quite understand or repeat again in this life. This was it for him. Feeling her at the back of his head. “I love how you hold me.” the man confessed to her as his chin found her shoulder. More safe, warming contact had never existed. Maybe the reason it was easy to let her do so. She was gentle with him. Holding onto parts of him that he knew others would not yet allowing him to feel the intimacy of her touch without sexuality all at once.

Jade Her fingertips parted there within his hair, holding to him just as firmly as she could when she heard him return her sentiment.  A smile there at her features that would fade at his next statement, taking it just as deeply to heart as he surely intended her to.  “I love holding you,” she confessed in return, as it was something she would easily do for the rest of her life.  It had been everything to find herself close to him, clothed and not so clothed, sharing an embrace with him that was for him and him alone as no other would get her so close.  “Plan on doing it for the rest of my life.  I hope you still like it thirty years from now,” she teased, pressing another kiss there to his neck before slightly lifting he head for the same kiss to be placed at the man’s cheek.  

Orion "I will...never been held so thoroughly in my life. I know no one else could do it and make it feel so intimate let alone not want to make me jump out of my skin." He commented honestly, not even sure if that was the right way to explain what he felt when she held him with all of her and kept him locked in. A security he had always been told he provided but never knew from anyone. Proving without a doubt that she was his red-tailed hawk.

Jade The same words could almost come from her own lips, as the feeling there was completely mutual, although the basis was entirely different.  There was something different about Orion and had been since day one, though really, she just saw him as being her home.  The very idea of ever being touched, much less held, by another was a non-factor.  Tightening her hold on him just slightly, feeling perhaps more connected to him in that moment than even typically, she pressed a kiss to the side of his neck, her lips soft while her hold was firm.  Things truly could not get any better than they were in that very moment, holding the man she loved while their child grew within her.  Although the idea of there being someone literally inside of her was quite foreign as she didn’t feel pregnant, she knew she was and that idea wouldn’t be leaving her mind.  The prior day, their entire lives changed, both in their relationship and the landscape of their lives, major decisions and changes that she’d been warned not to make, yet there they were anyway.  “I wouldn’t want anyone else to be where I belong,” she whispered, careful not to tread too heavily on the concept of such as she did not like it in the slightest, yet it was an honest confession that needed to be made.

Orion "No one will ever be. No one ever has." He reminded her, as this was a sort of intimacy that did not strike twice. Not for him especially. The modern dating world did not accept men such as Orion. He could never expect another person to handle his things. Let alone love them as part of him. “'I love you more than words can wield the matter, Dearer than eyesight, space and liberty.'" He offered. Shakespeare. Yet, it was only to be understood that he spoke in such quotes.

Jade There were certain things about Orion that brought Jade great comfort.  Things he never intentionally provided, but the side effect would forever be the same.  When she felt tense and he broke a situation down into true logic, she felt as though it weren’t so heavy.  He could bring her back to center so easily in just being himself.  In his quotes, he’d offer her affection, flooding her with a warmth that she would only ever know with him.  There was something there that she’d never much be able to explain or understand, but it was in moments such as these that she’d find herself feeling completely romanced and entirely in love.  With a soft hum there to his neck, she could quite literally let him go on for as long as he’d like, letting her eyes close as her body temperature finally reached something of an acceptable level, though it wouldn’t prompt her pulling back from him.  Instead, she’d remain just as she had been, holding him firmly, her face pressed to his neck.  “Tell me more,” she whispered, requesting that which she was sure he held within.

Orion “‘Beyond what can be valued, rich or rare; No less than life, with grace, health, beauty, honour; As much as child e'er loved, or father found; A love that makes breath poor, and speech unable; Beyond all manner of so much I love you.” he offered, as just as she had predicted, he had more there in him yet not wishing to overwhelm. Until she asked for it, that was. That was when the flood gates would rush as he pressed his chin against her shoulder and inhaled an even breath. “King Lear.” he explained.

Jade With her eyes closed, her face there to the curve of his neck, she took each word as he spoke it, feeling it straight to her heart as she was certain he’d intended.  A soft release of breath upon its conclusion as she felt him settle there to her own shoulder, she hummed softly her response.  Her fingertips sifted through his hair, her touch delicate as her hold began to loosen slightly.  There were no words she could ever offer him that would even begin to compare with that which he could present to her, yet she seemed to know he didn’t expect such things from her.  Here, she’d speak from a physical manner as she drew back slightly, forcing his chin from her shoulder as she found his eyes for a slow moment.  The corners of her lips were drawn into a simple smile, her eyes seemingly a lighter hazel than customarily.  With the ever so slight tilt of her head, her lips met his in the only possible way to show him what his words incited within her; the incessant need to be close to him.

Orion Watching as she’d draw back and he met her smile, a hand would find the side of her face. Cradling her jawline before her lips would find his. Pressing his own back to hers as he was still able to taste that smile lurking somewhere underneath of it all. The intimacy of the encounter active as he pressed his lips back to hers all the same as his free hand remained pressed around the woman though she seemed warmed by now.

Jade A soft kiss there to his lips, completely moved to this space by that which the two had been within for nearly the duration of his waking up, she was in awe that a man like him could love a woman like her.  He had the patience of a saint, for without which they would not be where they were today, a fact that she’d be forever thankful for.  As her lips passed softly to his, her smile lingered through, unable to completely shake it as he had put it there.  Feeling his hand there to the side of her face, only seeming to deepen that connection between the two, she hummed softly against his lips before slowly parting her lips from his.  Meeting his eyes, the proof of her smile still there while her fingers ran through the short strands of his hair.  “I don’t even know how to put it all into words,” she confessed, as he was the one here who had an arsenal of references locked away within his mind that could be drawn forth and offered to her at nearly the drop of a hat.  All she had was that she loved him, forever hoping it would still be enough as it had always been, yet somehow knowing it always would be.  

Orion Knowing that when words failed him, he had a quote. Words both failing him while someone else’s could save him. Yet, her words always meant more than those of any author. Hemingway and Shakespeare both could not compare and that was quite high praise as he met her eyes. “Try.” the man challenged of her, knowing she was capable of it no matter what as his lips gently pressed to hers once more in attempt to lure that all out of him.

Jade Hearing him challenge her, there was a flash of surprise through her hazel eyes.  Not bad surprise, but surprise just the same.  As his lips met her own again, it was both salvation and prompting all wrapped into one, as it was there against his lips, within his arms, his palm pressed to the side of her face, that she would feel some of the deepest emotions.  Yet putting them into words felt like a nearly impossible feat.  Nearly.  He was going to make her cry, she knew it already, as the only sign of pregnancy the woman might have held was a tinge of pregnancy hormones, lucky or not so lucky for him, it had yet to be determined.  “I’m broken.  I’ve always been broken.  I’ve been broken since before I can remember.  I’ve carried it with me through every step of my life.  Be it then, when I tried to protect Cael.  Be it six months ago, when I went to New York to put away the man that put it all into motion.  Ever since you’ve known me, I’ve always been broken.”  Her words were shaky at best, as she ventured into a subject that went undiscussed.  Jade didn’t do this.  The ones who knew, knew.  The ones who didn’t, didn’t.  But she’d never directly address that which had happened to her, and yet here she laid, in his arms, speaking of it in some manner that would ultimately result in her attempt at putting her own emotions into words.  “But you never treated me like I was broken.  When we were little, you didn’t mind that I was quiet.  You were alright with me keeping that distance, but you’d still try to play with me.  As we got older, you already knew what happened, and you never looked at me differently for it.  You were kind to me.  When things turned and we weren’t just friends any more, I don’t think either of us realized it when it was happening, but you were alright with it.  When I was ready, we took the next step, but it was when I wanted it.  Everything throughout our entire relationship has been in my time and you never once made me feel like that wasn’t good enough.  When you look at me, you don’t even have to speak.  I know you love me.  I can feel it.  I can see it in your eyes.  In the way you talk about absolutely nothing, even though it’s always something.  You are the one.  You were the one that night.  You’ve always been the one.  And you’ll always be the one.  You are my home.  I never much had one of those.  Every space I ever inhabited was never mine.  Every time, it was either taken away or was never really mine to begin with.  But you.  You are my home.”  Though he could manage short and sweet, she couldn’t seem to do the same.  By her last words, there were tears there in her eyes as this was where she was her most honest and vulnerable.  It wasn’t the first time she’d told the man he was her home, but it would forever hit just as deeply when she did for it was the one thing she never really had in her life, until the day she met him.

Orion As he watched the tears hit her eyes, others maybe could have anticipated them but not Orion. He’d never anticipate that as each time he saw them, he seemed to be briefly surprised yet they looked like good tears. Maybe he’d ask. His lips tightened briefly as his eyes shifted over hers as he listened to her. Breathing in each word until she’d reach her conclusion upon which he’d allow himself to speak. “Because I never saw you as broken.” he reminded her as she wasn’t broken. “You’re not. You never were. Not then. Not now. We aren’t what has happened to us. We are what we do about those things. There was never anything to judge you for.” he reminded her as nothing she could have ever done would have invited such a thing. “I have never considered even for a moment that you are in anyway, ‘broken.’ You are perfect in my eyes.”

Jade “And you are perfect in mine,” she returned easily.  Perhaps that was why it worked.  In one another’s eyes, they saw one another in a way that many others never quite would have.  Yet there, they were two perfectly imperfect people who were absolutely perfect for one another.  Her tears were light, not nearly the emotional stream she might have anticipated, yet they were there just the same, prompting her to draw her hand from the back of his head, turning her hand to the back to wipe away her own tears.  Years and years later, it would never be easy to face those things that had taken place and potentially had a hand in molding who she was that day, yet if there was anyone she could speak of it all to, it was him, though she never could have thought it would come forth in what was meant to be a profession of love, only hoping Orion had managed to follow her there as she herself was slightly confused by it all.  Taking a deep breath, her eyes widened as she attempted to push those tears off, not meaning to spend her first morning as his wife in tears.  

Orion Watching her wipe away her own tears just as he had been ready to wipe them away herself, he kept his eyes on hers as if to have some indication of what she was going through here. Eyes sweeping hers as he found that body language familiar and not anger filled. It were these moments of not asking and simply relying on insight that would help the man best on his quest to better understand this woman before him for if he had ever done anything right in this world, it would be understanding her as he wished to.

Jade She wouldn’t find any disturbance in the manner in which he watched her.  She was used to it, and honestly appreciated it.  She knew him well and she knew he was taking it all in as he always did, committing it to memory to draw upon another time.  His efforts were forever appreciated from her as she felt as though she were absolutely the luckiest woman in the world to have a man so in tune and invested in her as far too many, as she imagined, must not.  When her face was dry enough, she laid her head down against her pillow, bringing her hand there to the side of his face.  “I’m pretty sure watching your wife cry wasn’t top on your list of things to do on our first full day married,” she confessed as it wasn’t too high on her own list either.  “Coffee, breakfast, travel agent?” she suggested, putting forth an idea of a plan there, even if it did somewhat contradict her idea of staying in bed with him for the duration of the day.

Orion “It’s okay…” he confessed, as while it wasn’t on the list of things he had expected, it would still be alright. Hearing her suggestion, he nodded simply. “Yeah, we can do that.” he agreed, though in no real hurry to get up and get to it as it was a passive agreement as his eyes wandered to the door absently before he was leaning up on his shoulder at her side as his arm had fallen asleep. Adjusting for the sake of blood flow, the man returned his head to the pillow before he was glancing over towards her.

Jade With neither of them moving for coffee, breakfast, or a travel agent, she watched as he seemed to get comfortable there before her once more.  A soft smile took her features as she took that opportunity to draw into him once again, this time resting her head there against his chest while her hand found the man’s bare side beneath the blanket.  “Or…” she whispered, lifting her chin slightly to catch his eye, unaware of the status of that arm of his, though had she known, she might have been a little more cautious here.

Orion “Or…” fingers tracing the headboard as he attempted to work some blood back through it as he felt her against his chest and her hand to his side. Meeting her eyes as his free hand traced his fingers over her shoulder and down over her upper arm. Gently tracing at her as if being guided by some invisible lines on her skin.

Jade “Or…” she repeated, drawing her lower lip there through her teeth as she felt the man’s touch against her shoulder and upper arm.  The contact drawing a soft sigh from her lips, her eyes falling closed to the feeling radiating through her body prompted by just this touch.  With a slight turn of her head, she pressed a soft kiss against his chest where her head had rested but a moment before.  

Orion “Or…” he’d repeat once more as he felt her against his chest, lips finding her forehead and the top of her head as he allowed that sleeping arm down. Flexing his fingers as the pins and needles increased 10 fold yet attempting to not make much of it. His face briefly pressed to her hair before gently finding the pillow underneath of him again.

Jade Hearing him repeat the word they were now tossing back and forth in one another’s direction, she wouldn’t realize that his arm had been asleep, or that he was experiencing any discomfort as his kiss found her forehead, then the top of her head.  Taking his ‘or’ to be just what her own had been, she let her hand slip beneath the blanket that laid over them, her hand passing down his stomach slowly as her lips pressed again to his chest.  She wouldn’t repeat the word any further as she was pretty sure she had her answer as to his thoughts on this shift of events to start their day, truly taking on the honeymooner’s mentality, even if they hadn’t gone anywhere yet.

Orion "So..." he began, as if he was taking this up once again as he felt her hand against him stomach and increasingly underneath of that blanket where her intentions were made blanket. Feeling her again to his chest as his lips found the side of her temple. "So it's a good thing you're already pregnant." The man offered with a quick grin.

Jade Humming softly there to his chest at his rational, she had to agree.  How was still a bit of a mystery to her, yet not all at the same time.  She’d been back for nearly a month, sexually active for that month, and already finding herself pregnant.  Yet she seemed to be at complete peace with it, knowing that she and Orion were every bit prepared to take this on, to be parents, to start their futures together.  As her hand continued lower still, finding the top of his thigh as if her direction were slightly off, yet it was every bit intentional.  He’d warmed her up, now she intended to do the same for him, slowly.  “We’re pregnant,” she offered, a smile stealing her features entirely as the concept was still new and would draw this reaction from her quite regularly.  A child who would never know the world that she and Orion had grown up in, but would be raised by two parents who loved them and would protect them.  Two parents to support them and encourage them.  Two parents who loved one another.  Feeling the emotion rising at the back of her throat as the thoughts flashed through her mind, she quickly pressed her lips to his abdomen, attempting to turn off this sentimental side she’d taken on.

Orion It would never take much to get the man going. Back in the days without activity, he'd swear she could look at him wrong and he'd react. Something that still had not  changed for them and he wasn't sure it ever would as he felt her pressed to his stomach. Eyes following her as he hummed slightly. He was not pregnant, she was. Yet, they were? It would take him sometime to get used to that idea as he would allow her this one. "We are." He concluded in her favor.

Jade Fully anticipating him to explain to her how they were not pregnant, how they could not be pregnant, she was pleasantly surprised when she heard him confirming for her that they were pregnant.  The both of them.  In this, as in life, together.  A soft smile stole her lips as she pressed another kiss against his lower abdomen, curling herself around him there as her hand finally came to meet the base of his hardening cock.  One slow pass of her hand up his length would stand as that first morning contact as the woman seemed lost in which direction to move here.  Down, between his thighs, separating him at the knees for her to bow before him, or turning over him, upside down, tempting him while she took that which she wanted.  The moment alone proving her rookie status as she remained as she was, there to his side, contorting against him as she let her hand work for her until a decision, or suggestion, could be made.

Orion Feeling her to his stomach before her hand found him, a notable hitch of his breath as it all still felt so new to him. Each touch a response as he watched her passing against him as he still did not have expectations. Nothing served as the beginning of anything and each touch was a blessing as she continued against him. Eyes drifting to hers as this he couldn't read much less with the distraction.

Jade Fully clothed from her walk with Crash that morning, she quite liked the fact that her husband was completely bare to her while she was fully clothed.  Ordinarily, the two remained as equals here, removing item for item, baring one another in equal measure, but this time, she had the advantage.  The woman seemed to be making up for lost time with the man, as her drive for him seemed to run full steam at all times, with no chance of ever going back to the way it was.  Her therapist might say she was becoming an addict, fixated on the way it felt to be with the man, but she didn’t see it that way and wouldn’t have been telling him anyway.  Those therapists weren’t there /for/ her.  They were there to protect the bureau, should she go off the deep end.  She knew how it worked, which was the vast majority of her reasonings for not letting them in on shit.  They also would have suggested she not hop into a marriage, or get pregnant, but it was too late for all of that.  Jade knew better, and that’s all there was to it.  No one could convince her otherwise as she saw the therapists as a crock of shit anyway.  Hearing that hitch in Orion’s breath at her hand taking him, she desired it again, to a magnified level.  She sought to steal his breath entirely.  Regardless of the state of clothing, she committed to drawing over him as it was the quickest route to taking him within the confines of her own mouth.  Without a long transition or slow approach, she pressed her free hand into the bed on the opposite side of the man, drawing one leg over him, her knee pressing just beside his shoulder as her lips parted.  Taking him within her mouth for one long sweep, letting the warmth of her mouth take him over as her hand remained there against his base.  By no way was she skilled in this, though she’d simply pass over him, careful not to take him too deep within her mouth, careful to shield her teeth from him.  The confident move was out of the ordinary for his wife in this regard, yet her confidence was growing a little more, day by day.

Orion Not noticing that she was fully clothed until he was given no option but to notice as he watched her draw to him and over him. Feeling the warmth of her mouth take to him as not being able to watch made it nearly surprising. There was no anticipation for it as he could not watch. Still, the warmth of her drawing down him dragged a jagged breath from him. All while watching her position adjustment as he lured a hand up, finding the waistband of her bottoms as his finger hooked into them making clear his intent.

Jade Putting herself into this position would have been something that a few weeks ago, she wouldn’t have dreamed of, yet as with everything else, she was becoming more and more comfortable, even confident in this regard thanks to the constant encouragement and reassurance of the man she now called her husband.  Feeling his finger hooking there within the waistband of her pants, she could only be thankful now that she hadn’t opted for jeans for the position and attempt at removing jeans might’ve proven more difficult.  Yet this, he’d find her to be rather easy to slip free of them with no undergarment beneath as she’d rolled straight out of bed to get the pup outside.  A soft hum passed her lips, not with any intention of the sensation it might bring him, but in her approval to his intentions there at her pants as she continued that motion of taking him within her mouth, letting her tongue massage against him while within the confines of her mouth.

Orion Pushing those bottoms down to her knees which still allowed him the access he was after. He hummed low at the feeling of her mouth to him. Still not quite used to the feeling from her in this capacity but loving it all the same as it felt a million times better than he had imagined before he drew his mouth up. Lifting from the pillow as he drew his tongue free from his lips as parted her. Trailing over the heat of her as his hands swept up her sides.

Jade She’d been cold when she returned from taking Crash out, but now she felt nothing but the heat of the man who had been her husband for less than twenty-four hours, enjoying one another within the bounds of what was now their marital bed.  Still surprised at just how hard the man was for her, she felt the proof of it there within her mouth as she took him to a depth that would not cause her any discomfort while her hand stroked at the lower portion of his length, engaging him thoroughly.  As she felt that first pass of his tongue parting her, her breath hitched there at the head of his cock where she’d pause for a long moment, adapting herself to the feeling of that stimulation while attempting to focus on that which she held control of.  As his hands passed her flesh, she lowered her mouth over him once more, attempting to find a balance here, though he had the clear upper hand in her opinion.  Drawing her head down only to return upwards again, attempting to replicate that which she might have felt like over him in other instances, her hand tightened slightly, applying pressure to his base as she sucked against him as she drew up once again.

Orion Feeling her hand and mouth working double time, both clearly winded with the other yet not leading it on quite yet. Quite funny considering. Hands drifting down to the sides of her legs just overtop of him as his tongue traced up to her clit. Applying a gentle pressure against her with that winding muscle as he inhaled . Taking in her taste and scent. Both teasing him equally as his fingers pressed tight to the muscle of her legs. Not too upset about this sudden pickup of this aspect in them as they were merely making up for lost time.

Jade Feeling his hands pass against her legs, the tightening of his fingertips there against her flesh, she’d rock her hips back slightly, giving up a low whine there against the head of his cock as she lowered her mouth over him once again.  A pace building here as she was entirely too eager to please the man as he was providing the same to her.  Her hand stroked his base, matching the intensity of her mouth over him as the two found themselves in positions requiring the utmost trust one in the other which came easily to the two who had been at the trust game far longer than they had the sexual intimacy.  There was none other that she could have ever been so comfortable with, yet with him, she was not only comfortable, but growing there in that comfort by the passing day.  The first whine had been completely in reaction to his actions there against her clit.  The second that would pass her was completely in reaction to the feeling of pleasuring this man as she drew off his cock to tilt her head to the side, her tongue tracing up the length she held in her hand, intent to stimulate him entirely, leaving no flesh untouched.

Orion Feeling her drawing off him only to find the side of him. Hands tightening at her legs. A perfect reaction to her as his tongue swept at her clit again. Mouth surrounding her as he drew up a thick groan. Whether it be intentional or out of sheer pleasure yet to be determined as his tongue remained pressed to her evenly. Hands tracing back up her sides where her structure was all the more prominent under the flesh than he had ever remembered. Then again, he wasn't too familiar with this before.

Jade A slight turn of her head had her forehead pressing against his upper thigh where she’d breathe against him, feeling those vibrations he offered her radiating through her, stimulating her to a level that could not be ignored here.  A soft whine fell from her lips as she brought her hand back to his hardened cock, attempting to continue that stimulation to him though she didn’t trust herself to have her mouth over him in the moment.  The passage of his hands over her figured held with it a feeling of exploration as she’d never quite felt him pay so much attention to the area before now.  Pressing her lips to his inner thigh, her hand replicating the pace her mouth had held a moment before, lining a series of kisses from his thigh to the side of his cock as she attempted to bring herself back to him once again as heated breaths fell to the base of his cock in passage.

Orion Whether she realized it or not, the man had been highly attentive to her in every way. Memorizing the freckles of her skin. The projection of her hips. All the measurements between as her symmetry was what created her beauty and this would be no exception. Feeling her kiss to his leg. Mouth surrounding that tiny bead as he took advantage of her in that moment where she'd find no relief for her moment off guard.

Jade The position was nothing short of revealing, though here she felt no nerves in the slightest as she felt the attention he poured into her.  As his mouth took to her entirely, she’d draw slightly back into that feel as a soft whine fell from her lips to the base of his cock as she’d attempted to bring herself back to him in this manner only to have him steal her full attention all over again.  How this position could ever work, she didn’t know.  Drawing her hand up his length, she turned her face away from him, resting her cheek at the rounding of his thigh as she released a heavy breath, her body forced to relax as she gave into him entirely, barely able to keep up her end of the deal there.

Orion Feeling her lift, he had accomplished his task of recklessly teasing her yet even then he was not done. She'd have to learn that while sometimes it took him time to warm up, he learned the science behind it all quickly. Feeling her heavy breathing there as his mouth surrounded the nerve of her. Humming thickly as he pressed to her and his hands gripped her structure as if to keep her there.

Jade As his hands took to her, she knew she was secured there, though he’d never have to worry that she’d draw away from him.  She wanted to experience it all and there with the man who now donned the title of her husband, where he would stand as the one that had made all of this, the experience of intimacy, the closeness, the trust, all a possibility.  The woman who without him, might have never found herself in this capacity, for it was only with Orion that she could imagine being touched in any manner.  With him, she was never nervous or afraid.  She trusted him to her very core; a trust built in the friendship of children that had blossomed into a relationship all their own.  And though her body’s natural reactions would take over here, he’d not find her searching for escape, even if her thighs trembled in his hold.  Her own hand remained stroking up and down his length, her hand taking on a pressure that was very unlike her as he stimulated and provoked it in her.  Learning right along side of him, even if he’d found that her own attention span would fail her here.  The hum passing from him to her had her turning her head.  Her teeth grazing his thigh as she felt tempted to bite down against him, though she’d refrain by drawing her own lower tier within that hold as a whine filtered through the spaces.  

Orion All at once his hands released her hips, letting her do as she willed as that idea because better than the concept of holding her to him yet thinking this was a pressure point she wouldn't soon run from nor would he run from what she provided him here. Hearing her whine as she took to his leg and recognizing that victory while her hand worked against his throbbing piece. Hands passing down the sides of her legs overtop of his shoulders as his tongue worked firmly against her.

Jade In a split second, the fear of hurting him was gone, and she was lifting her head once more.  Her lips parted to take the head of his cock within her mouth once more, all of a sudden flooding him with such warmth without warning.  That hum he’d transferred through her moments before now found her own throat as she took him near to the back, not enough to choke herself, but enough that those vibrations would radiate through his length as her hand stroked the lower inches she could not take in.  She didn’t know if she was doing it right.  She didn’t know what felt best to him here or what he would want should he have control of her, but she’d continue on, driven by instinct, as she lifted and lowered her head in a quickening pace, driven by the warmth of his tongue against her, demanding that she taste him, feel him, stimulate him as he had done this and more to her.  Her focus was found and he would find it difficult to steal it from her once more as she had found that rhythm, the control of the guarding of her own teeth, the ability to shift her own hips back against him slightly while never letting her own pace here fail.

Orion Knowing his resolve was thinning rapidly as this new situation threw him for a loop. Never quite used to the feel of her mouth around him as he'd inhale sharply. The feeling sweeping over where he'd take in a sharp breath. "Goddammit, Jade." He'd hum as his head hit that pillow, still gripping at her yet his ability to concentrate spoiled.

Jade Hearing the pairing of that word with her name, it would take her but a moment to realize it was a good thing.  Never had she imagined being in such a position with him, taking him into her mouth as she was, and yet she’d worked out the kinks of it and found her way to the pairing of words that had her taking him just as strongly as she had been before they were uttered.  As the stimulation of his tongue left her, she wasn’t entirely sure if it meant she should continue or stop, so she pressed on, knowing the man would stop her should he want her to stop, but for now, she was not letting up.

Orion As his hand lifted, abruptly smacking against her ass with a firm grip as she felt entirely too good to him in that moment. Wanting to get the upper hand but too far gone. Knowing she'd win this but he could attempt to keep up at least as his head returned back to her. Pressing the thick of his tongue over her in heavy passes over her clit as his fingers drew back to her entrance. Gliding his middle finger deep within.

Jade The smack to her ass had her coming off of him all at once, her mouth remaining opened as she gasped to the contact.  Turning her head to look back over her own shoulder, she caught a glimpse of his head lifting once more, feeling the contact once again drawing a full gasp from her yet again as she felt his finger slipping within her heated walls.  A low whine passed her lips as she drew her hand against his length making up for the loss of her lips as much as she possibly could.  The position surely worked for some, yet the two of them couldn’t figure out how to both maintain throughout, leaving her to wonder if it was supposed to be possible to do so at all.  “Orion…” she whispered, her face finding his thigh again, ready to tap out and admit that he’d won this as he’d successfully made her want that which only his cock could provide her.

Orion Hearing her whisper as he felt her to his thigh. Both ready to tap out as his head hit the pillow. "Come here." He beckoned, wanting her right there to him. On him. Connected in everyway as he needed to see her and feel her more than anything else in that moment as he was somehow reeling for her presence like she was so far away. Discovering this whole process had unleashed something deep in him. Bonded the threads of their connections into beams of titanium as his breath caught. Teeth at his bottom lip.

Jade As he drew back from her, those words to his lips, she drew an uneven breath before she was bringing one leg from over him.  Intent to maintain that which they had started, she kneeled beside him there on the bed as she pressed a kiss to his thigh where she’d sought him out so many times already.  Pressing her lips there to his flesh, she created a path of kisses up his abdomen to his chest where she’d finally bring herself over him once again, this time facing him as her lips found the side of his neck.  Tasting his flesh that now held a slightly altered taste thanks to the bit of a sweat they had both found in their previous position.  A kiss to his jaw fell softly from her lips before she was lifting her head further to find his eyes before she’d steal his lips for her own.

Orion As she moved over him, his arms were slipping around her. Meeting her eyes before a light smirk took him. Pressing his lips back to hers before his hands were finding the back of her thighs. Pulling her closer onto him and against him entirely as he pressed back to her. Her own taste strong on his tongue with no hopes of it departing until he got a taste of her in another fashion as simply not having it would not suffice.

Jade The pull of his hands to her thighs had her drawing into him, her body pressing against him as she felt the pressure of him against her heated entrance.  Shifting her hips just once, stealing that feeling for herself while providing it to him at the same time, she met his lips with the softness in her own.  Her tongue slipping through a moment later to pass against the part of his own, completely in tune to the man as she found her own taste there against his lips.

Orion Feeling the shift of her hips over him, he was acutely aware of the heat of her as he felt her teasing them both. Inhaling deeply as he'd press his lips back to hers. Parting with ease for her access as the two allowed liberties solely allowed to the other. Finding freedom and comfort in such a luxury as the man's hands slipped up her back. Pressuring her to finish what she started there unless it was to become a tease.

Jade Never meaning to tease, but to simply keep things moving in that direction, not allowing the stimulation and intimacy to fail them for a single moment.  She felt charged by the attempt at the previous position, finding the pleasure in attempting to satisfy him while he serviced her all at the same time, the newness sending waves of excitement through her.  Looking at each time with him as something new, discovering him as well as herself together with him, finding herself craving him in times when such things weren’t possible.  He had awakened a part of her that she didn’t know existed, thinking it was something that would simply never be in the cards for them, yet finding that the moment she got over her own fears, they truly had it all.  Drawing her hips up slightly as she felt his hands over her back, her tongue passing into the confines of his mouth where she easily found that familiar taste of him paired with that of her own, she grasped him in her hand to hold him steady there to her entrance, aligning herself as her lips held firm to his.  Lowering herself carefully over him, still not entirely prepared to take him quickly, yet she hoped for the day that she could.  Inch by inch she took him within her, soft whines echoing there within the confines of his mouth where he could hear them, feel them, and taste them mixing in with the joint taste of him and her that held fast at his tongue.

Orion Feeling her guiding him to her, he’d exhale low. Thoughts filled with the knowledge of how far she had come. Where they once had been. Happiness that she was feeling more comfortable with him as if it wasn’t her, this flesh and act had no place in his life anymore. It was only hers and hers alone and for that reason she had every reason to be comfortable with a man who held her close as his own genetic sequence only maybe a little less damned. Feeling her whine as his hand took tot he back of her neck as she took to him bit by bit. Exhaling his response as every nerve ending was on fire as she ignited him from within.

Jade The first inch of him would steal her breath, forcing her to give up on her efforts at that kiss, though her lips would remain against his.  Feeling his hand take to the back of her neck, she would remain close, never pulling back from him as she lowered her hips against him.  Shifting her head slightly downward, she pressed her forehead against his cheek, keeping herself drawn into him, yet putting her entire focus in to taking him entirely.  Deep breaths passed her lips as she found herself halfway down his length, the pressure from within unmistakeable to the woman who knew it well by now.  Pressing her lips against the curve of his neck, she slipped her hand out from between them, giving herself that room to take him fully.  A process as it always was, he would find himself sheathed within her unforgiving walls that clung tightly to the man as her hips met his with a heavy sigh against her lips.

Orion Feeling her taking her time as he himself was pressuring her, doing right by them both in the process as he felt her taking in his sensitive tip. The whole feeling leaving him no question as to how he had bust early and gotten her pregnant. The thought drawing a light smirk to his lips as it was a compliment to her but maybe at the wrong moment in all the wrong ways. Yet, the man had never claimed to be suave and collected as she well knew. Feeling her sigh to his lips as his hand lifted. Drawing his fingers through her hair as he felt the heat of her. Breath hitching from the sheer sensation.

Jade Feeling his fingers through her hair, she pressed another kiss to the side of his neck, a line of kisses finding a path back there to his own in a space where she was more capable to maintain the sanctity of such an exchange.  Meeting his lips with her own, her hand found the side of his neck, deft fingertips pressing firmly to his skin.  Ever since she returned to Boston, the two had been on a fast track together to make up for lost time and old fears, morphing into different people and yet the core remained the same.  Things had been in a constant state of change, and yet when he was within her, time stood still.  She pressed a firm kiss to the man’s lips before drawing back slightly to find the ability to capture his eyes.  A soft smile swept her as she found the sight of the man there before her.  Her hand remained to the side of his neck, truly appreciating him in that moment.  The hint of a smirk that had been rested against his own features, drawing her to only wonder what it might have been that he’d been thinking about, yet she could only imagine it was the same thing that had a smile at hers; the sensation of being so close, one within the other, surrounded by warmth with the promise of so much more.

Orion Meeting her eyes as he saw that smile, again slipping to the back of her neck underneath of her hair and down her shoulder. Fingertips on fire and passing the lines over her skin as if to trace the letters of his name into her. As if that would allow her to know the depths of his devotion to her if only in that moment. If she only knew the full extent to the ways the man had partook in self destructive activities to hurt himself if only to hurt his pain yet it only seemed to throw fuel on the fire. Feeling her own hand to his neck as he watched her. Smile briefly intensifying with the flash of teeth as he gave up a low laugh of sheer amusement.

Jade As his smile grew, she’d find that laugh escaping him, only able to wonder what had prompted such a thing.  Too intense for too long, she could begin to imagine.  Regardless, his laugh furthered her own smile as there was nothing quite like seeing the man’s face so light.  Her hand slipped to the back of his neck where her fingertips drew at him, guiding him upwards as she sat up herself, finding herself straddled over a now sitting man as she pressed her lips fully to his, kissing away his laugh and her own smile as she let her hips take that first grinding shift against him the moment her lips found his.

Orion Glad she had not taken it personally, he was all too quick to work with her. Spotting her own smile as he’d allow himself brought forward. Arms slipping around her as he pressed his lips firmly back to hers. The interest there obvious as you couldn’t find a man more captivated with the feeling of his woman than this one here. Pressing his lips back to hers as he felt the shift of her hips which would quickly eliminate any humor he found and drown it out in the thick intensity of the pleasure she created in him.

Jade The feeling of their lips pressed to one another’s would never be so simple. For years it had been the only expression of internal feelings that existed and for that, something as simple as a kiss was sacred to the woman before him.  Feeling his arms wrapping around her, she drew in firm to his chest as her own arms swept around his neck, clinging to him just as strongly as he held to her.  Shifting her hips against him, she brought one hand to the back of his head, fingers separating the strands of his hair, holding to him and that position change that would provide them with the intimacy she knew to be desired.  With a soft hum to his lips, she drew back from his kiss to find his eyes again, only able to wonder if the man could laugh now.

Orion Feeling her drawing back from his lips, his eyes would open only to find her there already. Beckoning for an explanation as his hands found her sides. Drawing in the scent of her around him as his nose would nudge hers. “Was just thinking…” he began, drawing in a smooth breath to avoid what was funny from happening again though he felt fairly good about it. “That it’s no wonder that I came early. It’s all your fault.” he accused, playfully blaming her for her own pregnancy.

Jade The feeling of his nose to her own had a smile sweeping her features again.  “What’s that?” she asked, hearing him go on a moment later, not sure how he had been thinking of anything to begin with since all she could think about was how incredible it felt to have him within her so deep once again, yet she’d find out a moment later that it was exactly the same thought more or less.  “I’ll take that,” she stated honestly, a nod of her head, having no problem holding responsibility for their pregnancy, though she couldn’t be sorry for it.

Orion Hearing her accept responsibility for that of which was not her fault nor had it ever been, he’d shake his head gently at her as he was merely teasing. Lips pressing to the corner of her own lips as his hands moved up her back. Feeling the way her tendons and muscles worked over him as he felt their protrusion far too much for his liking yet it was what it was as he felt the warmth of her bleeding into his own skin.

Jade The shaking of his head told her he wouldn’t let her take full responsibility for this, though she’d only been going along with him in the first place. She knew it had been the two of them together that created the child and though the initial shock had been a heavy one to the woman, the idea of it was growing on her a little more with each passing moment.  The path of his hands against her back was paired with that of his lips to the corner of her mouth, every part of him engaging with her in some manner or another.  A soft sigh fell from her lips as she leaned her head back slightly, her hips shifting steadily against him in a slow  and thorough pace, feeling him stimulate her deep within.  Guiding her hand from the back of his head to the back of his neck, completely taken with the reminder from his lips of that which grew within, created in a space that surely looked much like they were in at this moment, fully wrapped in one another to the point that another person would be created.  It was overwhelming to think about and yet, she could do so in this capacity as her hips shifted against his.  

Orion Feeling her hips rock along with him, he watched as her head tilted back. Giving him access to the platform of her neck. Taking to it like a moth to the flame as his lips sampled the skin of her neck. Feeling her pulse dwelling just under his lips as he felt her locked into him just as he was to her. Hearing that sigh as it fell to his ears. Letting her have him in whatever capacity that she wanted as she truly had control here and he’d be crazy to deny it to her considering the benefits.

Jade The feeling of his lips to her neck had her hand tensing at the back of his neck as she drew her lower lip between her teeth, biting softly against that tier as she felt his lips warm to her skin.  Allowing him access to the side of her neck, she didn’t dare lean her chin back down as she’d given up her neck to him and would not deny him of it now, despite her own need to taste his flesh, settling for that bite of her lower lip instead.  A heated sigh fell from her lips as she shifted her hips against his, her inner walls giving a little more with each passing moment until the pressure subsided and gave way for true pleasure and stimulation.  Pressing her feet to the bedding beneath them, she gave up that roll of her hips for the tension in her thighs that would lift her slightly up from him before she’d ease back down, altering the motion of her hips against him, yet the position would remain the same.  A soft whine filtered through the hold of her lower lip, feeling the head of his cock penetrating her more deeply as that bit of force was enough to send him deeper within her, though she wasn’t sure deeper was even an option.

Orion Feeling her lift to alter her angle and provide them a different kind of depth all together, he hummed low. That angle being almost too good to be true yet there it was as he’d hum low to her lips. Tasting her whine as his lips would slip up the side of her neck and her jawline. Pressing firmly to the corner of her lips before he’d snag that connection back to the firmness of her lips. Knowing they’d both be unable to hold that kiss for long as it would interfere with her process. He’d be content with watching her all the same.

Jade The path of his lips against her skin gave her the moment to lower her own chin once more, his lips there a moment later, pressed to her own, giving a new focal point for the moment it could exist, knowing it would need to carry them over until their lips next met.  Finding the grind of her hips once more, if only to keep that kiss a bit longer, she rolled her hips against his, not letting him become accustomed to any one way for now as her desires were too many and her abilities too few, yet knowing all the while that there was no such thing as failing here with him.

Orion Feeling the grind of her hips, it was easy to get taken and transported by it. Knowing she’d change it up as soon as he got ready. She’d always impress him in this capacity as they had come along way and they learned new things about one another each time. Having no doubt that one day they’d be experts in this field and he’d be a little better stamina wise. Still, he took her in. Enjoying her entirely as his breath caught to the back of his throat.

Jade The grinding motion of her hips against his permitted the passage of her lips against his, each one deeper than the one before. Feeling his breath hitch, she wrapped both arms around his neck, tightening her hold on him as her body pressed firmly to his. Breathing through his lungs, not willing to part from him yet as she felt the tension in her lower abdomen at the existence of him there within her.  Drawing back from his lips, she drew into the curve of his neck, her lips finding the taste of his flesh. Soft whines escaping her lips at each draw of her hips against him. Feeling that familiar rising within her that could not be denied, nor did she hold the ability yet to back down from it.

Orion Feeling her draw into his neck as she found his skin, knowing she’d taste the saline of perspiration that she drew from the core of him. Setting him on fire of which there was no cure. He was hers. always hers and always had been as he felt each draw of her hips over him. Each motion noted with the fluent tightening of her around him as he felt a familiar tension rising up through her.

Jade Her tension was undeniable. It radiated through her against her will. Only wishing there were some way to sustain this feeling, yet its power was too strong for the woman to resist. It took her entirely, demanding her fullest attention and surrender. The taste of his skin was laced with the perspiration they both wore, their joint scent strongly clung to the air around them. The whine at her lips was interrupted by a series of deep breaths as the constrictions of her inner walls pulsed around him, her release threatening them both with the promise of the warmth that would follow.

Orion His hand gripped tightly at her hip as if she was going anywhere. A seatbelt for what she was no doubt about to feel as if she had any thoughts of getting away from  him. It wouldn’t happen here nor anywhere else. Capturing her there in his embrace as he felt the deep breathing running through her. The contractions of her body running thick through him as all he wanted was to give this woman everything that she deserved. Everything life had shorted her from yet all he could provide her was this. All of him.

Jade As his arms gripped tight around her, she felt the man's intensity for her as she fell victim to the strength of that release that grasped her deep within.  Her inner walls drew in firmly around him, the tension nearly restricting her ability to shift her hips against him before those same walls had built up that resistance, giving all at once to the deep pulses that followed. Her teeth found the curve of his shoulder as she bit softly against him as the tension within her grew to levels that would stand to surprise her each and every time. As quickly as it had taken her, it would release her, a warmth coming through to coat him at the willing of those pulsing walls. Turning her head, she buried her face to the curve of his neck, a breathless victim to her own release.

Orion Feeling her teeth find him, it wasn't much but that enough was magical in its ownership. It wasn't typical of her and there in laid the magic of it as he felt the warmth of her drawing thick over him as his lips found the side of her own neck. Tasting how intense that had been for her as he gripped tight to her through it all. Knowing himself to merely be lucky to experience it as being able to cause her such a release was a joy all in itself. It left him speechless each time.

Jade In his hold, she fell apart, giving in entirely to the power of that release that would surge through her body, transferring to his, leaving little room for doubt that he might have not felt some portion therein.  Knowing better than that, she felt his lips to the side of her neck as she drew breath there against his, coming down just as slowly as she’d been taken up.  A soft whine found its way into each breath she took, her hips stilling as her walls continued to pulse around him.  

Orion Hearing her whine as her hips stilled to him, leaving him with the after effects as she shook within. Everything washing over him. Smiling softly to her own skin as his hands passed up her back. Forever taken with this girl who had kept him from the start and then some. Lips trailing to her shoulder as he exhaled a heated breath. Lifting his head if only to allow him to meet her eyes with his own.

Jade A slow joint moment there beyond her release was welcomed by the woman who simply wanted to breathe the man in for a minute as he seemed to do the same with her.  Feeling his lips make that path against her shoulder, she was lifting her head just as he was, seeming to understand what he was after while craving the same herself.  Feeling weak to the man in the best of ways, she never feared this weakness as she knew he had her through and through.  As her eyes found his, she loosened the hold of her arms around his neck to bring one hand to the side of his face.  Softly passing her hand against the surface of his face, the pads of her fingertips inspecting the man who now wore the title of her husband for more than twelve hours.  Still, no one knew what the two had done, or the condition that she was in, making it all the better in her mind for it had been their own secret for some time now.  Slowly leaning in, she pressed a soft kiss to his lips, letting it linger there before she’d even think of drawing back.  Her hips had stilled completely as those last contractions of her walls radiated through him, ultimately stilling as well, leaving the two of them connected with no further motion as they stole a moment in time to simply be with one another.

-October 14, 2016

[xbostonsfinestx-blog]

o.м.ĸ.

Stealing a moment to himself amongst the madness, the man sought solace within his office. Rediscovering one of his favorited activities for the evening. A cracked open violin case on the desk serving besides a homemade whiskey sour. The sound of music filling the immediate area. Aged to perfection. Crisp notes, soaring melodies. Not a sharp or flat out of place as the man closed his eyes and drifted off. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Rwu16GRseg

His fingers locating the magic upon the violin’s fret board. He was merely the catalyst for bringing it sort. Lacrymosa from Mozart’s Requiem. A sweeping mass for the dead made by the dead. Before the ink could dry on the coveted project; the composer had breathed his last. Orion had always thought it the melody of the dying. The beauty and fear of the event transposed so clearly within the peace that he thought it always capable of carrying him away.

Bоstои's Fїиest

The sound of music filled the apartment, something she hadn't heard from the man in quite some time. Ordinarily, she'd have case work spread across the bed as this sound began and a glass of wine in her hand. But tonight, she'd lay on the sofa, her eyes closed, with no casework and no wine. With Crash curled on the floor against the sofa, she'd silently enjoy that which he brought forth. Eyes closed. Hand over her stomach. Slow, deep breaths as she attempted a clear mind to simply relax at that which he created.

o.м.ĸ.

The piece went quickly. Transforming time and space around him as he allowed those final, formative notes. Letting the violin slowly slip from his neck and shoulder as he remained holding it by the neck. Placing down his bow where that hand found his glass. Bringing it to his lips where he finished the contents within. The sour burning telling him when enough was enough.

Bоstои's Fїиest

As the music concluded, she remained where she had been for a long moment before she'd finally rise to approach his office. Stepping within, she left the door to stand open as she came up behind him, placing her hands there to his shoulders as her lips found the back of his neck. "It was beautiful," she whispered against his flesh, allowing her arms to wrap around him as she leaned into him.

o.м.ĸ.

Hearing her enter the room, he knew it was only a matter of time before she was there against him. Turning his head to glance down towards her as he placed down the now empty glass. "Yeah, it is." he agreed, as playing it was the easy part. The composition was what made it beautiful. Any idiot with high-functioning autism, a violin and a penchant for classical music could figure that one eyeing the empty glass as he placed it down, her lips remained to his neck, placing another soft kiss to his flesh. "Play me something else?" she requested. She hadn't heard him play in so long now, she thought to monopolize upon it while he seemed to be in the right mood and headspace to do so.  "What would you like?" he asked as he felt her to his neck, his head turning so he could glance down towards her. Any potential requests as long as it was in his realm and not by a rapper with a dollar sign in their name.

Bоstои's Fїиest

A hum crossed her lips as he asked her to tell him what she'd like. She was not nearly as well versed in this as he was, nor did she know a single name for anything he played. "Absolutely anything you'd like to play," she offered, giving him free reign here as she would be merely his appreciative and adoring audience.

o.м.ĸ.

"Alright..." drawing his violin back to his neck, taking a moment to choose his song before he did. Remaining within his favorite composer as he let his fingers find the fretboard. Showing

her a tune she most likely had already heard a hundred times over on one cartoon or another. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YYQFbDuT9k

Bоstои's Fїиest

As he drew into position once more, she'd take a step back to give him the space to do just that. A smile graced her lips as the piece came to life before her, more than a little familiar to the woman. With a bite there to her lower lip, she could only imagine just how much their child would love this as well one day. Finding him to be the perfect man to spend her life with as well as start a family with; a feeling she'd had many times over the course of their relationship, yet it seemed to settle in on her a little stronger now.

o.м.ĸ.

Leaning up from the window frame yet his eyes to the ground, going through the notes mentally as they were performed. Eyes lifting towards her as the final notes came into view after the several minutes of performance before its final conclusion.

Bоstои's Fїиest

As he concluded, the smile swept her lips. She'd step forward once again to press her lips softly against his. "Thank you," she whispered, a breath beyond her kiss. More than pleased to have music in their apartment, though one could wonder if the neighbors shared the same appreciation.

o.м.ĸ.

Feeling her press her lips back to his, he nodded as she thanked him though it wasn't much to thank him for. He had already been at it, after all. Knowing the neighbors could only tolerate it for short periods of time as the man felt exceptionally quiet and self reflective that evening as he turned to tuck the instrument and bow back into its home.

Bоstои's Fїиest

As he placed the instrument back in its case, she watched him with a soft smile to her features. Once it was back within the case, she'd find her place there just behind him, a kiss pressed to the back of his upper arm. "Come to bed with me?" she asked, her hand slipping into his as she looked up at him over his own shoulder.

o.м.ĸ.

Feeling her to his arm, he glanced down towards hers. Giving her hand a gentle squeeze as he nodded. Clasping the buckles on the case shut with his free hand. "Of course." he stated simply.

Bоstои's Fїиest

As he closed the case, securing it until the next time, she pressed another kiss against the back of his arm as her free hand found its place against his side. His response drew a smile from the woman, there to the back of his arm, radiating through her eyes. Slowly coming to his side, she'd give up her station behind him, though it might forever be her favorite.

o.м.ĸ.

Drawing her to the room just outside of that door as she hovered at his side and he guided her to the location, he allowed his eyes to wander back towards her as he opened the door. "Tired?"

Bоstои's Fїиest

Following his lead, she was there at his side throughout until finally they were slipping within the room. Glancing up at him at the prompting of his question, she offered a slow shake of her head. "No," she whispered, taking the lead to guide him into the room and to the side of the bed.

o.м.ĸ.

"No?" he asked, following her before he was taking a seat there on the edge of it. Glancing up toward the woman before she'd join him.

Bоstои's Fїиest

"No," she confirmed as he sat to the edge of the bed. Passing up the seat beside him to take the one against his lap, she released his hand to bring her arms around his neck. "I am not tired at all."

o.м.ĸ.

Feeling her slip into his lap, the man's hands were at her sides as he made her suggestion. A nod of his head as he understood. "Okay, so you are not tired so you are..."

Bоstои's Fїиest

"The opposite of tired," she offered with a telling smirk there to her lips. Drawing her lower lip between her teeth as she slowly nodded her head as though to convince him of the same.

o.м.ĸ.

"Cognizant, vigilant, observant, roused..." he attempted as she attempted to convince him, drawing his own opinions as he gave her all potential opposite adjectives from 'tired.'

Bоstои's Fїиest

"I was going for awake, but..." she offered, as she supposed any of those that he offered must've been potentially accurate though his vocabulary was far more vast than her own. "Just awake."

o.м.ĸ.

"Just awake..." allowing her this, he nodded in conclusion as his eyes wandered hers for further explanation.

Bоstои's Fїиest

The connection of his eyes to hers had her shaking her head slowly. "Maybe not /just/ awake..." she offered, as though there might've been something else there. Drawing her arms slightly tighter around him as her lips found the curve of his neck, a soft hum as if to challenge him to figure it out.

o.м.ĸ.

As she continued, he was catching on. More so as he felt her to his neck as his hands found the sides of her thighs over his lap. "Cravings?" he asked, as this might have served as the first craving to date for the woman.

Bоstои's Fїиest

"That what this is?" she asked, not drawing back in the slightest, her lips finding his skin once more. "I happen to think you know how to make me want you and you did just that," she whispered, laying blame here as this time, it truly was all his fault.

o.м.ĸ.

"I didn't do anything." he challenged as he felt her at his neck, the concept of him having done something for this completely unfounded as it was what he had done a hundred times before in front of her without this. One of his hands found the side of her neck underneath of her hair as she remained to his neck. "It has to be chemical."

Bоstои's Fїиest

"It's not chemical," she argued, not allowing something so organic and pure to be left to just simply science. Just because she'd never before been able to bring herself to act on her desires before didn't mean they weren't there. He just didn't know. But now, he'd find out in the best way possible just what his creative expression brought out in this woman of his.

o.м.ĸ.

Hearing her continue to argue with him, he had to smirk slightly as maybe just this once, he could let her win. "Okay." he concluded, knowing it would come as quite the shock to her but he was in a giving mood as his head turned, pressing to the shell of her ear before his teeth found her lobe.

Bоstои's Fїиest

In a moment of shock at her winning this round, she felt his teeth to her ear creating a soft hum from her. "You having cravings too?" she asked, unable to manage the kiss against his neck when his teeth came into play here, bringing into question who really won what.

o.м.ĸ.

"Yeah, well. With both of us pregnant and all." he teased as she was the only one allowed to have cravings here but he wasn't asking for permission. Lips tracing down just below her ear where his enamel once again scrapped her skin before replacing that spot with the firm kiss of his lips.

Bоstои's Fїиest

Her own desire for him had clearly ignited something in him and for that she couldn't apologize. Falling victim to his touch as her fingertips found the back of his neck. "I was seducing you..." she whispered, a sigh leaving her lips as she managed to find his neck with her lips once more.

o.м.ĸ.

Hearing her whisper, not quite sure what all that meant or if he was not acting according to her plans. Feeling her to the back of his neck with her fingers and to the side with her lips as he let her have it. His hands firmly gripping the sides of her thighs as he inhaled deeply.

Bоstои's Fїиest

As his hands gripped her thighs, she'd readjust from where she had sat across his lap to straddle over him instead. Meeting his eyes, she'd remain there a long moment before all at once leaning in to steal his lips for her own, engaging him instead of seducing him, both hands gripping at the back of his upper arms.

o.м.ĸ.

Pressing his lips back to hers as he felt her against his arms, his back slowly letting himself go before he was laying back on the bed. Taking her with him on the trip.

Bоstои's Fїиest

Easily maintaining the kiss of her lips to his as he drew them back against the bed, her hands found the surface to either side of his head. Emitting a soft hum against his lips before her teeth nipped softly at his lower tier.

o.м.ĸ.

Feeling her against either side of his head, his hands lifted where they found her sides. Smoothing up over her and back down to her hips. Feeling her at his bottom tier. Smiling softly to her lips.

Bоstои's Fїиest

Feeling his smile break the hold her teeth had on his lower lip, her eyes would open to find his there as she leaned there to one side, slipping off of him, yet remaining close enough to steal his lips anytime she should like to. "Tired?" she asked, a subject that had gotten them into that room, now used as a question to find out if he was in the same headspace as she was.

o.м.ĸ.

"No." he returned, wondering if he was acting it and getting that mind started on all sorts of things it should not have been. Was he doing something wrong? Was he not acting right or was he all wrong altogether. Eyes shifting towards hers for explanation. "Thought I was doing alright..."

Bоstои's Fїиest

Allowing her hand to venture down the front of his shirt, unbuttoning each button as she went, she nodded her head. "You were doing more than alright," she whispered, stealing his lips for her own once more. "Better than alright," she continued, her lips passing to the side of his neck as she showed him just why she'd moved over. Her question had been rhetorical, meant to be more flirtatious than anything, but she should've known better and would make up for it now.

o.м.ĸ.

"Oh." Silently cursing himself for the miscommunication as he was overthinking it like usual, feeling her against his shirt as he felt her at his neck. His arm curling at his side where she securing his hold of her as his free hand found the bottom of her shirt. Pushing his hand up and under to locate her bare skin.

Bоstои's Fїиest

Tightly held there to his side, she wouldn't dare attempt to move, even if she could have helped him in his endeavor there at her shirt. Instead, letting him do as he pleased as her lips passed down the opening of his shirt as her fingers found the last button. Exposing his flesh to her as her hands swept it to either side, knowing they'd both have to help one another out here at some point, and yet not yet. "Mhm," she agreed via hum to his chest where her lips passed down to follow the path of her hands.

o.м.ĸ.

Inhaling evenly as she took in the expanse of his chest and ribcage, his fingers drifting over her side before he'd find the column of her spine. Only once he had gotten a feel of her, was he pulling back his arms to allow her to pull down that shirt all together. His lips finding her temple as he felt each warm kiss to his chest.

Bоstои's Fїиest

As he adjusted, finally giving in to the fact that someone had to do it, her hands were traveling up the fabric of his shirt to remove it from his shoulders. Drawing to her knees beside him, an ever growing confidence in this arena, she'd help him out of his shirt before her hands were reaching to the hem of her own to do his job there in thanks for his assistance in the removal of his.

o.м.ĸ.

Feeling her draw out his shirt before she was at her own, he grasped the spot just above her hands at her own shirt. Drawing it up and over her head as he was leaning up slightly on his elbows himself. His free hand finding her side as he gave her a gentle squeeze. Leaning in where his lips found her chest and collarbone. Slightly leaning into her.

Bоstои's Fїиest

As he took control over the removal of her shirt, she'd easily relinquish that control to him. Feeling his kiss find her skin, he'd instantly be met with a sigh upon her lips as her hand swept to the back of his neck, gripping firmly to his flesh as her lips found the shell of his ear.

o.м.ĸ.

Feeling her to his ear, his hands were slipping down to reach for her bottoms. Easily getting up over her tally of clothing removal as he heard her sigh. Teeth finding his own bottom lip before he found the side of her neck.

Bоstои's Fїиest

Finding it hard to focus in that moment as his lips found her neck, she lifted her chin slightly, giving in to the feeling entirely. As his hands worked there at her own bottoms, she attempted the button of his jeans, finding herself entirely too distracted to manage the task. Bringing her hands to the back of his upper arms, gripping there at his flesh as she allowed him the landscape of her neck to be taken to his liking.

o.м.ĸ.

Drawing down her bottoms as he remained to her neck. Alternating between firm kisses and the nips of his teeth before his tongue would draw over those same spots.

Bоstои's Fїиest

Soft sighs fell past her lips beyond her control as he quite literally transported her to another place altogether. She had always been partial to the intimacy before, as there were so many years that it would end with just that. "If you did this forever, I'd be alright," she whispered a confession to him as his tongue soothed the tiny stings his teeth had left in their wake. Attempting to rejoin the man there in the task at hand, finding herself simply unable to do so.

o.м.ĸ.

"I will..." he reminded her. "For the rest of my life." he explained as they both knew that this was it for them, lips following down to her shoulder and over her collarbone.

Bоstои's Fїиest

His promise would ease from his lips straight into her heart, etched there within where she'd hold him to it every chance she got. A soft hum fell from her lips as she finally brought her hands back to the button of his jeans, attempting it again. This time she'd find success before one hand was there at his zipper as his lips passed over her collarbone. With both hands taking that fabric into her hold, she eased his pants down as far as she could manage as her hands found the man's bared back, soft fingertips gripping against him as she drew him closer.

-September 4, 2016

[xbostonsfinestx-blog]

Jade On their way out the door, Jade had never been so sure of anything in her life.  Within an hour’s time, she’d be Mrs. Orion King.  She’d be Jade King.  King.  The very thought of it had a smile plastered against her face.  A smile she didn’t don often.  A smile that was becoming of the woman, and yet foreign at the same time.  There was something fitting about she and Orion slipping off to do this their way.  It was always their way.  Something private, between the two of them, without the need for another living soul on the planet.  Those who knew them would easily respect what they had done here, even if for a moment they were upset they were not in attendance.  But Jade and Orion were cut from the same fabric when it came to things like this.  They liked their relationship to be just theirs.  They did things in their time, when they felt comfortable to do so.  

Jade had been back now for three weeks, facing therapy and doctors, status updates from her boss.  She’d been assured that she’d be more than likely cleared for station once more by four weeks’ time and there was no time like now for the two to race off together on a whirlwind trip that would ultimately be remembered as their honeymoon.  As the door to the apartment closed, it was the first time in a long time that she truly felt as though something was going right.  Those first few weeks back had been difficult, to say the least.  Each day held a new challenge for the woman, be it sleep or emotional damage or longing for her work or contemplating a career change.  Every day was different and yet they were all the same, forever leaving her feeling as though the only space she felt like herself was there with Orion, making this decision of theirs even more fitting.  Never again would they spend a night apart.  Never again would they spend weeks or even months separated.

Until it all came to a screeching halt.

The ringing from her phone prompted a smirk from her, as she’d nearly left her bag in the apartment should Orion not have stopped her for it.  Her hand was in his as the two made their way out of the building, but just outside, she’d stop for the phone.  “Hang on,” she requested, stealing her hand from his just to reach into the bag and view the caller i.d.  It could have easily been her ‘mother’ or even Cael.  Her boss or her partner.  But when she looked at the screen and found a number against it that she did not recognize, she half considered silencing the phone and continuing on.  But instead, she’d answer it.

“Hello?” she asked, in a place she would have formerly stated ‘Agent Kerrigan’.  “Yes, this is Jade…” Her eyes drifted over to Orion’s as a look of confusion painted her features.  “Oh, yes, Sir.  Thank you for calling.”  Beyond her recognition of the voice on the other end of the line, she’d fall silent, listening to what was clearly an exchange of information.  This went on for nearly two entire minutes before she’d speak again, this time with a crack of her voice.  “You’re sure?” she asked, her hand once again slipping into Orion’s as her other held the phone.  “Okay… yeah… alright.”  Four minutes and fifty-three seconds would completely alter the woman’s demeanor.  

As she hung up the phone, she didn’t put it back in her bag.  She simply stood there, frozen, unable to process the words she had just heard.  Her eyes were directed down, unable to shake the man beside her as she knew everything was about to change.  She didn’t do well with things being thrown at her, and she knew well that he didn’t either.  Both of them required the ability to ease into things, and yet there was simply no easing into this.  She drew a slow breath as she slowly lifted her chin, her eyes taking in the man before her.

Four minutes and fifty-three seconds prior, the two had been overcome with excitement, heading off to the beginning of the rest of their lives.  Finally taking their relationship through step after step since her return, they were about to embark on what would easily be recalled as the best days of their lives.  As she looked into his eyes, she was flooded with a sea of memories.  Times when they’d share candies, or watch television.  Times of doing homework together after school, when she was far more intrigued with looking at him than studying.  The first time she’d held his hand.  The first time they kissed.  How nervous they both were through every step.  She remembered the first time they had tried to take things further and how she’d left him in a state of needing to remedy it himself when she had been unable.  

In more recent days, it was that first night she was back, when the two had to face what her position within the bureau had required of her.  It was the confessions of what she had seen and done, some of which still hadn’t fully come to light as her subconscious had pushed the memories so far away that she couldn’t offer what she couldn’t recall.  Therapy.  His suspension.  Finding out just a bit of what the last few months had looked like for him while she was away.  It all flashed through her all at once, yet seemed to take hours as she simply looked up at him.

She thought he said her name.  She thought she felt his hand tighten.  She thought her time was up.  She thought many things, but she knew one thing; the look on her face would come across as purely terrified, though it wasn’t yet known if she was terrified of what she had learned on that call or of what stood before her.  She trembled.  Her heart raced.  She took a step back, bringing him to the steps of the building.  She still said nothing as she took a seat, guiding him at the pull of her hand to do the same.  They weren’t going anywhere in that moment.  No longer did she believe she’d be Mrs. King in the same time frame as she originally thought, as what she might say held the power to change everything.

“That was Dr. Mathews,” she stated, the man who had been responsible for her medical care beyond her mission.  She could already hear the voice in her head, his voice, asking if everything was okay, though it was clear by the look on her face that everything was not as it had been just a moment before.  “He was calling because of an irregularity in my lab work…” she offered.  Swallowing hard, she drew her lower lip between her teeth as she finally met his eyes once more.  “O, I’m pregnant.”  

Orion Stopping his steps at her willing for what he thought would be a brief phonecall. The man stuffed his free hand into his pocket. Busying himself as best he could as his eyes drifted from hers. Every phonecall from here on out would put him on the edge of his seat. Would this be the one to lure her away again? Another 6 months of absence that he had narrowly survived yet he had never imagined himself the selfish type. The idea was frustrating. He wanted to be the peace in the storm, unconditional and relentless to her needs yet here he was. Having them of his own. Fear prevailing. Normalcy wasn't a good look for the man yet he had to trust her. Watching her face exchange for something all together different, he had formed that conclusion. This was happening again. Right before his eyes. Being lured back to idleness. He could have stopped her right there. He could have snapped. Yet, he tried patience. Yet, when she had finally revealed her hand, he could breathe again. "Christ...I thought it was something bad. Like you were being called back in." The lips immediately spilled from his lips before he could piece together what laid within her reaction and the truth of the matter. What were the chances after one stray encounter? Eyes immediately straying back to that. He had done the math. He had done the numbers. The chance? 19 percent. "Nineteen." He repeated under his breath. Again and again after that. Nearly chanting it as he attempted to sort through his feelings as his eyes found his feet and the sense of failure set in. He had failed her.

Jade His quick response to her revelation there was not quite what she was expecting.  She shook her head no as she watched him slowly finding himself in the same space she was in, yet not at all at the same time.  Her hand remained in his as they sat on the steps of their building, a space they had only moments before walked down without a single care in the world outside of getting married and finding a travel agent, embarking on something bigger than they were, all the while there was something already between them that neither of them could know about.  “Nineteen?” she asked, not following where he was going with this number, unable to tap into the man as she ordinarily could.  She’d been back just over three weeks at this point and their lives were turned upside down.  The voices in her head grew louder as she watched his eyes finding the ground at their feet.  She swallowed hard, as if she knew he was somewhere else now, repeating that number over and over again.  Leaning her head to the side of his upper arm, she could only manage one thought; he wasn’t happy about this.  She knew she was shocked, but her own emotions were so deeply rooted in him that she’d feed off this.  If he wasn’t happy, then this wasn’t a good thing, no matter how shocked she had been. If he’d been happy, then she would be as well, and the idea would settle on her slowly as they always did.  But the man beside her didn’t truly appear happy or unhappy with this information.  He appeared to be instead fixated on a number that regardless of its meaning was now repeated, over and over, and etched into her mind as what it looked like the moment she found out they were to have a baby.  “It’s okay, O,” she attempted, as much for his sake as for her own, letting her own eyes close as she drew her knees there into her chest, wrapping her free arm around her legs as she leaned her head against the curve of her knees.  

Orion "Nineteen...nineteen percent " he attempted as she drew down. He might not have looked happy, but he certainly wasn't doing that leaving him only to see just how badly he had screwed up. Inhaling evenly. "There was a nineteen percent chance between your ovulation period of pregnancy taking in consideration our ages and reproductive histories and the fact more children are typically conceived in the winter and even our local fertility rates. Nineteen percent." He stated as he sat beside her on those steps. Arm lifting to make the contact yet not quite able to land it as his teeth found his bottom lip. "I'm sorry, I-I thought...I thought..." not quite sure what he had thought, the man's brows furrowed. "This is my fault."

Jade As he began, it all became clear to her, just as it always would in time.  Listening to him explaining the chance that the two would become pregnant in this space in time, she opened her eyes in time for his apology.  Words that would quite literally break her heart.  Releasing her hand from his, the same release of her legs drawn to her chest, she moved into him.  There at his side, drawing his arm to come around her, one hand finding his back as the other found the side of his face, forcing him to meet her eyes.  “No sorries, O.  Fault means it’s bad,” she offered, followed by a short shaking of her head no.  She didn’t know what to think, but at the same time she couldn’t think a baby was a bad thing.  She might not have been entirely comfortable with all of this, but the last thing she could manage was feeling as though he thought it was a mistake.  After how long it had taken her to actually get there with him, to be able to go all the way.  She couldn’t associate that with something bad or wrong or she’d be right back in the same mental space she’d been for the years and years before.  Drawing into him further, she stole his lips, finding the ability to have some semblance of happiness, even though it was mostly shock at this point.  “I’m not sorry,” she whispered.

Orion Feeling her pulling into him before literally forcing that contact. It is what she needed to do most in that moment. To keep him from that fatal headspace that he was diving into. Meeting her eyes, a moment of effort to concentrate and accomplish this. Her assurance that it was not bad directly contradicted from that moment when it had likely happened. Returning to it again and again. She had not been happy at the prospect then. "But you...then...you." he attempted, as how could she say that with such a reaction as the one she had. "You didn't want it then. You've convinced yourself by now but..."

Jade She didn’t expect him to reciprocate her kiss as it had been meant to draw his attention to her entirely, which it had apparently done.  Yet she still had this feeling that he thought this was bad, wrong, requiring apology.  As he called her on her shift there, she nodded her head.  He was right.  “I’m…” she attempted, drawing her lower lip between her teeth.  She knew she had to be careful here.  She knew that anything she said or did could easily influence his own emotions on the matter.  “I’m scared,” she admitted.  Change wasn’t something that sat well on either of them.  Two like beings in their desire for normalcy and consistency.  In truth, her initial reaction was a blend of both shock of the news, fear for the situation, and fear for what he may think beyond it.  She had fears upon fears that had been instantly thrown at her, especially considering that which she had only a short time ago returned from.  There could be backlash there.  With forty-one members of that crime family behind bars, it didn’t mean they’d stay there, and she knew they’d come for the one that put them all away at their first opportunity.  She’d been left by a mother who was killed by the mafia.  She knew what that looked like for her father and for herself.  She knew that she couldn’t let Orion face the same fate and decisions her own father had been under.  The timing was bad, but in that same space, she couldn’t be sure the timing would ever be good either.  “I never /didn’t/ want it,” she corrected him, that shake of her head nearly constant at this point.  She drew a deep breath, hating that it was that which he would draw from her reaction a moment earlier.

Orion As she named the emotion reflected in her eyes, her play on words drew a shake of his head. There was no neutral here. No halfway point. Still remembering that moment vividly as the guilt he felt was multiplied and served back to him. Never wanting to be one to create fears in her but to cool them. Not impose upon her such a thing. "I'm sorry." Was all he could manage in return as he wasn't apologizing for the pregnancy but for what she did not want. The man had offered none of his personal feelings and was thinking strictly on her and what she wanted and needed. Thus, his own guilt.

Jade In those few moments between when the phone call ended and she sat down on those steps, before she told him what Dr. Mathews had relayed to her, she could not have seen it going this way, not for even a moment.  She didn’t think the man to be elated, but all she was getting from him was apologies and his thinking that she didn’t want it.  She’d forced his arm around him.  She’d kissed him.  She’d tried to explain how she was feeling, as it wasn’t at all what he thought.  And she had failed.  “Please stop apologizing,” she stated quickly, drawing her knees back to her chest as both arms came around her legs, leaning into this.  She wouldn’t force him to be in this moment with her.  There was nothing more she could do for him than she already had, and still he was apologizing.  No part of her was sorry, as she had told him, yet the more times she heard him apologize, the more she heard him saying it was wrong.  Closing her eyes again, she couldn’t help him with this any further if he saw it as a mistake, an error, something requiring an apology.  

His apology echoed through her mind over and over again.  He was sorry.  Sorry she had been shocked.  Sorry she was afraid.  Sorry he’d slept with her in the first place?  Her thoughts were not at all in line with what he was feeling there, and yet they were every bit what he was portraying to her.  Going off of what he’d given her only.  Her head would spin out easily, as it so often did.  He’d recognize this without any effort.  She spent so much of her time trying to control it, but in every major hurdle or experience the two had found themselves in since they were small children meeting for the first time, she’d spin out.  Vowing herself to silence if he was going to take everything she said to be something he should be sorry for, she wouldn’t give him anything else to be sorry for.  She didn’t want him to be sorry.  She wanted him to tell her exactly what she had told him.  That she was afraid.  That it was okay.  That there was no need for apologies.  But instead, she got another apology.  

In a time that they should be drawing together, all she felt was space, as it had been her drawing to him, her pulling his arm around her, her kissing his lips.  She was forcing him and it wasn’t until now that she’d fully realize it.  Outside of the apartment building, on a flight of steps where they had descended with excitement moments before, she was now left to realize their grand plans they had made upstairs might’ve been something else he was sorry for at this point.  She couldn’t know.  She was almost afraid to know.  Opening her eyes, she’d look to him, taking in the profile of his face, a place she had longed to see something other than sorrow, yet she had put that look on his face.  She was set to marry him ten minutes ago, just as much as she was now, and yet she wasn’t quite sure he’d still want that if he was sorry.  If he was blaming himself for getting her pregnant, she could easily blame herself for that and so much more.  If this was wrong, and there were accusations to be made, then it was just as much on her as it was on him.  

Orion As she drew back in, he'd need a little more reassurance to get to the middle of his feelings on the actual pregnancy. He watched her pull back from him and was left with the feeling of that same failure. Swallowing hard as he pressed his elbow into his knee cap. Pressing his chin into his palm before his hand passed his jawline and to the back of his neck. Face parallel with the ground. He was fixated on his guilt and his sadness for failing her. In such a way. His job was to protect her. Yet, he had not. Try as she might to say otherwise, he was still stuck. Nothing about what this really was bleeding through him. Just that raw emotion and his fear of upsetting or hurting her. She could be upset with him all she'd like and it unfortunately would not change his feelings on himself in that moment.

Jade Silence had often been a place of comfort between the two.  They didn’t have a need for constant communication in that manner and could easily sit beside one another silently.  It had always worked before, but now the silence was louder than the boldest scream she could have heard in that place.  She didn’t want to leave his side, but she couldn’t help but get the feeling that he was unhappy with this news.  In those first moments, it had come as a shock to her.  She didn’t know how she felt.  Still, she’d face mostly fear, but not at doing this with him, but doing it at all, knowing what her own childhood had looked like.  Though it was different, her mother being a card carrying member of those she’d locked away, the threat would remain the same.  A sharp pain through her stomach accompanied every thought of her mother and how in some ways, she might be fated to be just the same.  The bite at her lower lip grew tighter and tighter as she felt the need to release all of the pent up emotion within her, yet the front steps were no place to do it.  In the same space though, leaving those steps meant leaving the car, which meant they weren’t following through with their plans at all, which meant she wasn’t to be his wife as she thought, which meant disappointment.  While this baby could very well be the glue that tied them together, she couldn’t help but feel like everything was falling apart.  Finding his position there beside hers, she let her hand venture over against his thigh as she rested her cheek over her knees.  “Please talk to me?” she requested, her voice cracking under the silence she had been beneath for the last several minutes, her rasp more evident as she attempted to control her own emotion.  “Tell me how you’re feeling.  Tell me that you love me.  Tell me that we’re going to be great parents.  Tell me you want to marry me.  Tell me that this has changed nothing.  Tell me you want this.  Tell me something, anything, just… I need you to talk.”  Her requests were quickly stated, rolling off her tongue one after another as she pleaded with the man to give her something to hold on to here.  Something to shine some light where she felt darkness taking over.  Something to tell her where he was at with this as she was lost within her own thoughts on where she was.  She depended on him for consistency, just as he had depended on her for the same, yet both of them sitting there, side by side, feeling as though they had failed the other wasn’t getting anyone anywhere.

Orion Feeling her against his thigh, her request allowing him to close his eyes. “I tried to.” he reminded her, he tried to tell her how he felt and she was closing down on him. Getting angry. Completely counter productive to him in that moment and she knew better. That was the difference between Jade. Why she had always been his pick out of the masses. Because she knew him. She knew him as a child, she knew how his mind worked. She knew that he was not intentionally hurtful. Yet, there they were. Hearing her mention how he was feeling again and all these things that seemed now even relevant to the conversation at hand. Passing his fingers through his hair from the back of his neck which caused it to erupt into chaos. “Me loving you is a constant. Me wanting to marry you is a constant. Us being great parents is a constant. That has nothing to do with the fact that I’ve failed you.” he continued, insistent. His palms pressed together so tight that his knuckles flushed as his fingers clasped within. “This has nothing to do with that.”

Jade “How did you fail me, O?” she asked instantly beyond him doing exactly what she’d asked.  At this rate, the two of them talking about it, even if it meant heightened emotions, would be better than the silence she had created there a moment before.  “You have not failed me.  We didn’t fail.  There is no failure at all.  If we can look into this child’s eyes one day and tell them that they were created from the purest love in the entire world, then how is that failing?” she asked, her hand tightening at his thigh as she was once again prying her way into him.  “We didn’t fail anything.  YOU didn’t fail anything.  So there’s a moment of shock.  Alright.  I think we’re both allowed to be shocked, considering nineteen percent and all… We’re allowed to be scared.  I don’t know if there are a set of parents on the face of the earth who haven’t felt afraid going into it.  But none of that means failure.  No one fucking failed, O.  We made a baby.”  It would be in that very moment, where she’d attempt to talk him through it that she would find her truest emotion on the matter.  Something bigger than her shock or her fear.  They made a baby.  The two of them, together, in love, created a person.  It was here that he would find a true smile on his fiance’s face for the first time throughout.  Jade’s smiles meant something.  They were never casually offered and were forever a true reflection of what she felt internally.  “We made a baby,” she repeated, not even noticing the mess he’d created atop his head.  “We’re gonna have a baby,” she whispered, a bit of excitement slipping through there as the shock of the matter wore off.  Repeating something over and over again was not something she’d thought to do, and yet here she would find the ultimate benefit of it as that smile graced her features.  

Orion "I..." now at the end of his logic, she was breaking through. Somehow. A baby wasn't a failure. He knew that. He'd never call it a miracle but the creation of life was the closest thing to magic he'd ever understand. Yet, as he glanced over and saw her smile, he was momentarily confused. Normally, he could gauge this woman of his but was that a genuine smile or one meant to please him? To change his mind? Would the tears come later. "A baby." He repeated under his breath, hearing the truth behind it for the first time since it's unvealing. No longer nineteen. But a baby. Going quiet to this as the look of sheer horror left him, it wasn't the baby that upset him. The idea of failing her did.

Jade “A baby,” she repeated after him, the bottom line discovered.  The word pregnancy erased.  The idea of failure gone.  A baby, who could never be a failure, nor a regret, nor something to apologize for.  A baby, who would be the best parts of the both of them, combined into one, though she was sure he’d have a far better grasp on what it was that actually formed a baby, though this would be how she saw it.  “Orion, we’re going to have a baby,” she offered, perhaps the way she should have offered it all to him in the first place.  It wasn’t about that /she/ was pregnant or that /he/ had gotten her pregnant.  It was just this.  The smile to her lips was unfading and pure.  She couldn’t fake a true smile for him even if she’d wanted to as she finally drew over to him.  There were no longer thoughts of her forcing him there with her or even a true awareness of herself.  Instead, she was consumed with the overwhelming need to feel him, to touch him, to be joined to him as that baby was joined to them both.  Both of her hands took to the sides of his face as he came to meet her hazel eyes there before him.  “I love you so,” she offered, waiting not a moment before she was pressing her lips firmly to his.  The woman he loved had taken a brief hiatus there in the aftermath of shock, but now she was back, and ready to take on the world with him.  There was no such thing as failure between the two of them, only the act of finding their way through to the other side of most anything they were presented with.  Her hands eased behind his neck as she drew him into her, herself to him, not allowing that kiss to break quite yet.  Operating on sheer emotion as it was that which had swept her, finding its way throughout her to show her truest feelings on the matter.  There would still be fear there beneath the surface, but fears that she knew Orion would help her through to the other side of.  She knew that she wasn’t her mother.  She knew that he would move hell and high water if it meant keeping her and this baby safe from harm, just as she would do anything to protect him and the baby as well.  The baby.  A tiny person that their love for one another had created.  The future was shifting as it had been almost consistently since her return, but as she had been with everything else she faced, as long as the core remained the same, she was more than confident that they would find their way through.

Orion “A baby.” he repeated again after her first statement, hearing her offer it again which lured the word again from his lips. Feeling her at the sides of his face. Now locked in somewhere entirely different as he met her eyes at her offering, feeling her lips to his a moment later. Feeling her lure him towards her which he allowed for the sake of meeting her lips. A hand reaching out to slip over hers and down her forearm as she found the back of his neck. Fingers curling gently against her as he seemed to finally get it. Untimely circumstances no doubt but, they were viewing it for what it was. A collection of cells. An exact date located as to the day, already able to visualize what that mass of cells looked like to this point. What was happening and how it was happening churning deep within his head and all within her. All underneath that palm of his which was passing to the currently flat plain of her stomach.

Jade Feeling him engage her not only through that kiss, but by his hand there against her arm, she finally felt as though the two were sharing a singular space.  As his hand moved on from her hand to her arm, passing against her, her hand was moving to the back of his head.  Satisfied to remain in that kiss until he parted from her, and yet it would be her that would withdraw from him as his hand settled against her stomach.  Only giving a slight separation between them, her eyes were opening to find his as a slow smile took her features again.  Only minutes after the discovery and his hand was there, as though he were already connecting with their child.  The thoughts spinning through her mind now were overwhelmingly positive as she felt the emotion welling in the back of her throat.  Her hand tightened at the back of his neck as she pressed a quick kiss there to his lips before drawing back entirely to glance down at his hand there against her.  “A baby,” she repeated, bringing one hand to rest against his against her stomach, joining him in that moment willingly as her eyes slowly drew upward to find his again.  Her other hand coming to rest at the side of his face, a gentle touch from the woman as she found his eyes.  

Orion “A baby.” he repeated back to her, nodding his head to say that he understood as she slipped her own hand above his. Only able to wonder if this woman how much of a science experiment she was about to turn into. His own curiosity running a mile a minute. Biting back questions, teeth at his bottom lip. Willing himself to act normally. For once. Keeping his own eyes as he willed forward. Pressing his lips back to hers as he took to her bottom lip. Not quite ready to lose her intimacy that easily in that moment.

Jade Eying the bite to his lower lip as he was clearly working through something there in his mind, she was quite surprised when he drew into her.  If there was anything he could have done for her in that moment, it was this.  With his hand against her stomach, his kiss met her lips of his own doing.  She easily gave up her lower tier to the man as she allowed her hand to slip free of his, giving him that space to himself as her hand joined her other against his face.  Kissing the man on the front steps of their building, finding a balance to the news they had just received.  The influx of emotion that had taken place seeming to die down within her just as it had risen, avoided for now as she allowed herself to quite simply kiss him.  

Orion Keeping his lips back to hers before he could figure out what all to say. A new device of his to buy him time which always seemed to work. Yet, if she’d ever discover it, not even his complexion would be able to save him from the blush to come. Yet, the woman was onto him about most things even if she might not admit it. Keeping his hand over her stomach as his other found her back. Holding close to her as this time, he had nothing to say. He was speechless. Entirely speechless yet happy to be so.

Jade Such an intimate moment to be shared on the side of the street, sitting on the steps of their building, and yet neither one of them had made any attempt to move from that space.  These steps had seen a lot in the past few days just from them alone, and yet it felt strangely fitting for the two to be so exposed in this moment in the middle of an otherwise private existence.  Lost in his kiss, as it was so easy to do, she felt his hand there at her back while his other remained where it had been.  She’d have to wonder if he’d go through this entire pregnancy with his hand over her stomach, holding on to that which was his within.  It was reassuring to her in a space she had needed such to feel that he was completely invested in a way that she probably always knew he would be.  Slowly, she’d draw herself back from that kiss, if only to meet his eyes with her own.  Her smile remained from before, taking its place there against her features once more as though he hadn’t just kissed it away.  A long moment of pause was there as she brought one hand back over his there at her stomach.  “There’s a part of you /in/ me,” she offered, quite miraculous if she said so herself.

Orion Meeting her eyes as she drew back. Feeling her back to his hand at her stomach. Not sure he’d be able to pull back from that at the moment, he heard her statement. He nodded. “and 49 percent of pregnancies are unintended.” he stated, a way to remind himself that he was in good company as nearly 3 million babies would be unintended that year but never less loved. Eyes slipping down over his stomach as he drew in a settling breath. Needing to find that relaxation, happiness with that fact. Still, they needed to marinate in a safe place and he knew it as the change was sudden and had momentarily taken them for a bit of a ride.

Jade “And this is why I love you,” she explained, as his facts and summarizations of most everything they would ever come face to face with provided her with just as much peace as they seemed to offer him.  With his hand still there over her stomach, her own remained just the same over his as she drew her lower lip between her teeth at the next step.  “So let me ask you… do you want to go on with what we had planned today, or would you rather go upstairs and we can save it all for another day?” She was almost nervous to ask it, but she knew they couldn’t stay on those steps forever.  She saw upsides to both options, but wanted to know what it was that he wanted to do, or even needed to do at this point in time.

Orion Hearing her question as she drew at her lower lip. Eyeing it as he didn’t like the sound of him making that decision. They didn’t do things like that. They figured it all out together. They always had, they always would. “Well, it could be a good end to the day should you like a real conclusion but I think this day has been filling enough so we may not need the conclusion…” he offered, seeing both sides as well as he wouldn’t be particularly upset with either option but knowing that even if they decided not to this evening, it would be happening sometime soon.

Jade She offered a slight nod as she found that he was more or less in the same headspace she was on this matter.  It could go either way.  She could stand up and join him to go to the car or to go upstairs and not be upset in either fashion.  She’d lower her head as she thought for a moment, staring down at his hand over her stomach which would instantly ignite that smile to her lips again.  Drawing in a slow breath, she’d let her eyes venture back to his, something there just behind her hazel hues that would be revealed to him in just a moment’s time.  “I want to go to bed, as your wife,” she confirmed, knowing it would happen eventually either way, but letting it be known in that moment what she wanted most.  Delayed from their initial plan, yet never being so sure about wanting to spend her life with him as she was in that exact moment.  

Orion Hearing her confirmation as initially it would sound like she’d agree to another day. Yet, she strung him along until the end where he gave her a nod. “Okay. We’ll do that then.” he seemed to agree as his hand remained to her stomach. A gentle rubbing motion before he’d remove himself and be prepared to stand and achieve this. A sudden thought finding him though as he gave up a soft laugh. Trying to chase back the other yet failing as he met her eyes. Amusement laying within his hues slightly as inappropriate as it was.

Jade His easy agreement to her statement there had her smile only widening.  Feeling the gentle rub of his hand against her, she seemed to know she was in for eight months of just this, yet she couldn’t be sorry about it in the slightest.  As he drew back, she started to stand up, but paused as his laugh broke that silence between them.  Not quite sure what it was he was laughing about, she looked down against her clothes, only left to wonder if she had gotten something on her dress in that short of a time period.  “What’s so funny?” she asked, finally standing up as she ran her fingers through his hair, helping to put him back into place once more.

Orion “I just…” hearing her question as he stood up a moment later as he felt her through his hair. Blissfully unaware of himself in that moment. “We hadn’t intended this to be a shotgun wedding yet…” upholding his arms, he shrugged. “Here we are.” he returned, confessing why this was funny to him as the two were hardly the sight yet if anyone from the outside looking in had a say, this set of circumstances would have rendered them to this conclusion as well. His hand slipping his pocket to rediscover his keys.

Jade A part of her found this more than humorous as it had never been their intent, yet he had said it all when he summed it up as there they were.  Though it might’ve been enough to derail her and send her retreating to the apartment any other time, there was a part of her that simply didn’t care what it looked like to everyone else.  After spending six months away from him, there wasn’t much that could stop her from wanting to marry him right here and now, not even the tag of it being a shotgun wedding that would be completely out of character for the two.  “You knocked me up and now you gotta marry me,” she accused, joking with the man as he was searching for his keys.  “Suppose it’s better this way.  So my father won’t kill you and all,” she offered, speaking of her biological father always and never the other.  “Cael is going to just love this, you realize,” she continued on as she took that step towards the car, moving forward in a manner that was similar, and yet altogether different than their last attempt at this.

Orion “Mhm.” he hummed at her accusation as it had been just that easy. Hearing her continue onto the joke bringing a light smile to his lips as he nodded once more. Taking full responsibility for this in guise before she’d mention Cael. “If he can dig his head out from a set of underwear for long enough, I can take him.” he promised her. While he would have never wanted to come to blows with his bestfriend, he knew his own temper. He also knew his strength in theory but not in actions. He was excessively strong. Farmboy strength. Never understood it but in these occasions where he was forced to use his hand, it was lights out after one well guided Orion punch. Needless to say, with such a weapon, her brother didn’t scare him much. Getting to the passenger side of the car, he opened it for her. “Well, we just did what he always said we should be doing…”

Jade She didn’t actually expect Cael to be upset about this in the slightest, but figured he would more than likely find it comical should he find out that his sister, cleverly referred to once upon a time as Saint Jade, was pregnant before she got married; the same twin he had harassed time after time to sleep with the man in the first place.  The relationship was atypical at best.  “I think you can definitely take him,” she assured as she wasn’t sure how much fight her brother actually had in him, nor did she think Orion would be finding out any time soon.  In fact, her adoptive mother adored him.  Her father adored him.  Orion was overall well liked throughout the small family Jade held and in that, he’d be widely celebrated to be within the fold if she should have to guess.  As he opened the car door for her, she paused there to look up into his eyes with that smile still residing against her features.  “So really, it’s Cael’s fault,” she determined after Orion’s prompting, this drawing a laugh from her lips after she’d protested all accounts of attempting to lay blame as though it made it wrong.  None of it felt wrong to her now.  There were precautions to take, but those were all to wait for another day.  Today, they were allowed to be happy and leave the fears behind, not allowing them to consume her any more than they already had previously.  From the curb, she’d steal a kiss from the man before she was taking her place in the passenger’s seat of his car, potentially as excited to take his name as she was to be taken to bed that night by him, as his wife, and he as her husband; a concept a younger version of herself had thought on many a time over calculus homework when she should have been studying.  

Orion “It is.” he concluded at her suggesting that this was all on Cael. As everything always was. If all else fails, blame Cael. Their philosophy at best. Allowing her this kiss before she was slipping into the car, he’d wait until she was buckled in before closing the door. Walking to the drivers side where he did the same and started the car. “Think about it, if he hadn’t started a fight with you, you wouldn’t have been here. If you wouldn’t have been here…we…wouldn’t have had so much access to one another.” he reminded her, only framing and brewing this further as this really just might have been all of Cael’s fault jesting aside yet he wouldn’t allow the man to take credit for it as it was all their own.

Jade As he came around the vehicle and joined her within, furthering this idea that it was all Cael’s fault, she couldn’t help but smirk.  He had a good point.  That first night she’d returned home, she’d come straight to Orion’s, but the next day, she’d been set to go home, only that fight with Cael turned things around entirely.  Bringing her hand over to rest against his thigh, she tightened her grip there to draw his attention.  “Definitely all on Cael,” she continued, though she truly believed it would have happened anyway with as much time as they had already spent together even when living apart.  “However, if you suggest naming this baby after him…” she added, shaking her head no as he’d get no such honors from her.  He was a jerk and put her through hell on a daily basis with his incessant need to act like an immature teenager who was responsible for absolutely nothing.  She could go back and forth on Cael, to be honest.  There were times when she felt like he was almost alright, and she did have an appreciation for Orion’s friendship with him, but there was still damage done there in her mind.  She’d never actually understand him, no matter how hard she tried.  

Orion “No, it wouldn’t be Cael…” he stated, a shake of his head as if disgusted by the suggestion. “If we are going that route…I was thinking ‘Spinach’ or ‘Leafy Greens’ or even ‘Spring Mix.’” he added, a dry moment passing. Just as dry as his sense of humor with no smile or laugh to suggest he was kidding. “Good unisex names. Strong.” he commented as he glanced over towards her to see what all she thought of that, feeling her at his thigh as he was backing out of that spot and out of the parking lot for his apartment. If there was one thing she wouldn’t have to worry about, it was a naming convention such as that. There were plenty of times where Orion had nearly punched the man in the face though it was not easy being the bestfriend of the sibling of your significant other. He tried to allow them their sibling rivalry but had an issue with the disrespect that appeared before him.

Jade As he began, she didn’t understand, not even a little bit.  The look on her face was sheer confusion.  By the time he got to ‘Spring Mix’ it started to make sense to her, hence the upward turn to the corners of her mouth.  “Ah hah hah…” she offered in an exaggerated laugh, shaking her head.  As his eyes met hers, she was cutting hers at him.  “No,” she simply stated as he was making their way out of the parking lot.  “If those names are on the table, then I’d say it’s a really good thing we have about eight months to figure this out.”  A laugh would follow as she glanced down over her abdomen there behind that seatbelt.  “It’s funny though… I’ve just been me in my body for all of these years, right?  You’d think I’d be able to tell a difference.  That I would’ve known before some random phone call informing me.  But no, I don’t feel anything.  There’s a person in there and I’m just like… nothing.”

Orion Seeing her not appreciate his joke, he could only shake his head as he had thought it to be pretty good. The early stages of Dad humor. Hearing her mention her own body. He side-eyed her yet in complete curiosity of how such a thing was even plausible. "It's strange but...I'm sure you would have determined it eventually." He commented truthfully, reaching for her hand to hold through the duration of the trip. "Or atleast maybe now, you'll be more likely to notice those little changes." He added, as he was sure something so microscopic was easy to pass up on.

Jade As his hand found hers, it would draw her eyes in his direction as she appreciated the gesture greatly.  It was something small, yet it was always the small things that would mean the most to her.  A nod of her head as he spoke, his thoughts there making sense as surely the pregnancy couldn’t have gone undetected for too terribly long.  “Maybe you’ll notice those little changes,” she seemed to repeat, though she wasn’t repeating at all.  Instead, making mention that she knew him well enough to know this had the potential to become an article of fascination for the man.  His own, at home, science experiment.  “I’m okay with anything but needles.  No drawing for samples, alright?” Offering herself to fuel what she imagined the man would be completely well versed in within days, she’d draw their joined hands over to her own lap, lacing her fingers through the spaces of his before bringing his hand there to her lips.  

Orion “No, of course not…nothing invasive.” he ruled as the suggestion was ridiculous to him. But yes, he would be increasingly curious and no doubt would he be reading up on all things he could get his hands on in the next few days. Not to mention all this time entitled to him now. Giving her hand a gentle squeeze, he felt her drag his hand up to her lips. Stealing his own sentiment causing him to steal it back and kiss the back of her hand instead.

Jade “You have yourself a deal,” she offered, a smile there to her lips as she pressed that kiss to his hand.  She’d easily let the man learn everything he could on the matter as she knew it would be through him that she’d learn what was truly even going on with her own body.  There was a trust there.  It was simple.  She knew he’d never guide her wrong and in that came a vast amount of responsibility for the man, yet one she thought he wore quite well.  She’d depend on him to call each step, preparing her for what was to come as the both of them seemed to do best when they knew what to expect.  As he drew their hands to his lip instead, stealing her sentiment back from her, she gasped.  “Hey!  That was mine!” Tugging against their joined hands to attempt to place that kiss back to the back of his hand again as she wouldn’t let him have this one.  

Orion “You’re the one who stole it in the first place.” he alleged, feeling her pulling his hand back to press his lips back before he’d do the same. Refusing to let her have the last one as his eyes remained on the road. The passing scenery of their city melting into the evening sky as they drove towards the location that would cement their bond as one rather than two. The proof there within her as they’d wait each day to see a little more of what nature would allow them out of this process.

Jade “I didn’t steal it.  I learned from this guy I used to date...” she offered, referring of course to him as she offered a sly smile.  “He’d kiss the back of my hand and then he’d look over our hands there together as he did it.  I could only see his eyes.  And let me tell you, I think it was the first time he ever did this that I knew I’d marry that boy someday.”  She nodded, speaking the absolute truth there as she allowed him to keep her hand in that moment, no longer struggling to get that last kiss in.  Offering him a genuine smile as he drove, only allowing herself to steal his eyes every now and then as to keep his eyes mostly on the road, but when she did manage to steal his attention for a moment there beside him, he’d find this smile waiting for him nearly every time.

Orion “Ohhh…” hearing her speak of him in such a fashion, the ‘used to’ part well noted as he heard her continue. Feeling her not pulling his hand back luring a light smile out of him as he met her eyes briefly and that smile there. “I win.” he declared proudly as he pressed his lips back to her knuckles. Assuring an attentive kiss to each as cityhall got closer and closer. “Only got a few minutes now to back out…” he seemed to warn the woman with a brief cock of a brow.

Jade “You definitely win,” she agreed, letting him have that and then some.  There was something about him, when he was truly happy, that she absolutely adored.  It was nearly a glimpse into the past as she saw him every bit as a teenage boy who was just as awkward as she was.  Hearing that warning, she offered a soft shake of her head as her own smile radiated through.  “You couldn’t pay me to back out,” she stated honestly as she tightened her hand in his.  Years and years together were all amounting to a building just up in the distance, a place where finally the two would do what most everyone always knew they would.  In their own time, as they were with most everything the two took on, yet there were no nerves within the woman on this matter.  She would’ve done it years before honestly, even without their intimacy discovered, as it had simply never been about that for her.  She felt safe with him.  Respected.  Loved.  And somehow she always knew she’d never need anything more than he could give her.

Orion “Can I say something and run the risk of it potentially sounding insulting?” he asked, not sure if it would or not. Some might have taken it from because of the mere suggestion. Yet, she had to know he didn’t mean it to be such. Thus, his suggestion. “I feel like we’ve been married for a long time already.” he confessed as he briefly side-eyed her. “We’ve really always been comfortable, even before we…y’know…it wasn’t a rush to the clock, like something had to happen. We were still alright and we would still be alright even if it had not happened, you know?” he asked, not quite sure if he was vocalizing that well or not but he couldn’t help but think that this would merely be a title for the life they were already living.

Jade Where it might have settled on other women differently, his woman was not like most.  She not only understood, but reciprocated the exact same feeling about things.  A nod of her head would accompany that smile that was so unlike her, yet had been commonplace today.  “I feel the same way,” she stated honestly, as there was certainly a part of this that was merely formality, though one she was more than pleased to take on.  “You saying you’ve felt as though we were married for a long time could never be insulting,” she offered, assuring him that no harm was done there.  She took it as a compliment if anything, as it meant that he would still wish to be married to her after feeling like he already was.  “Although if I’m to be honest, I’ve been ready to get rid of this name for as long as I can remember.”  The constant reminder of who she was and who she wasn’t, a family name lost in place of one held by a man as evil as they came.  She’d draw a deep breath as she found herself once more, not allowing for that to take away from today in the slightest, and yet it was honest.  From Giada Savastano to Jade Kerrigan and soon to be Jade King, she was more than ready to put Kerrigan in her past.  

Orion “Mine isn’t much better.” he reminded her and while he had his grandparents to be proud of and a funeral home establishment due to inherit, he also had a father who had been an actor. A vicious example of the name who he’d still occasionally visit. He still made sure the man sent away in a care facility was well taken care of. A monthly bill assured them of that. A room with a view towards the garden, constant supervision. Occasionally he’d visit him only to be shamed and reminded how much of a failure he was to him. Still, he understood her scenario. Squeezing her hand gently. “But we’ll make it better…together…”

Jade His reminder was well received, as she knew the pain he’d felt under his own name as well.  Only able to imagine it must have been worse considering it was his own name, his only name, where in the back of her mind, she could remind herself she wasn’t a Kerrigan at all.  He was a King, with no other option, leaving her to hope she didn’t jar them into a darkness neither of them wanted to be in.  As his hand gripped hers, his statement offering possibility, she knew she hadn’t done that which she had been afraid of.  Instead, he found the silver lining as she nodded her head in response.  “I think I like the way that sounds,” she stated honestly, leaning over towards him there in the driver’s seat, pressing her lips to the man’s shoulder as his lips were unavailable to her behind the restraint of the seat belt.  “I love you,” she whispered there to the sleeve of his shirt where she would remain for a long moment before withdrawing back to the confines of her own seat.  Her head turned towards him, her lower lip stolen by her teeth, more than ready to take on the journey of making it better, with him, together, in a place where she would spend the rest of her life.

Orion Hearing her whisper that he might not have been able to hear unless he was listening, he took one last turn into the parking lot for city hall within the busy atmosphere. “uoy evol I dna.” he’d return, she’d find the answer when she read that statement backwards as he gave up a quick smirk. Finding a nearby parking spot that he was pulling into and shifting into park. “Trats daeh a evah lluly, won gninnur trats dna rac eht fo tuo teg ouy fi.” he continued, killing the engine and giving her a last minute reminder of who exactly she was preparing to marry here.

Jade Glancing over to him as he pulled into the parking lot, she’d have no trouble with his sentiment, though not exactly what she might’ve expected in return.  She knew who she was marrying, as did he.  Halfway through his next, she was shaking her head no, a laugh at her lips.  She couldn’t keep up with him, nor could she do it on something she’d not heard before.  Once the car was off, she was unfastening her seatbelt before drawing up on her knees there in her seat regardless of the dress she wore if only to steal his lips entirely.  “Stop,” she managed with her lips remaining to his, attempting to make it stop while expressing her love for him in actions instead of words.  

Orion Feeling her draw up before her lips were on his, smirking softly as the woman was too easy to get going. “Im sick.” he stated strongly before her lips could land. Briefly sounding like a confession, but it was not. Another riddle she’d need to unscramble as he encouraged what she was doing here. “Im sick.” he demanded again, meeting her eyes as he shot a brow, suggesting that if she could work this one out, she might just get him to stop as she’d like but until then. She was stuck with these mere two words. “Im sick.”

Jade Her kiss interrupted by his proclamation of being sick wouldn’t stop her the first time, nor would it the second, but on the third, she’d draw back, her elbow hitting the horn on the steering wheel to sound it loudly, causing her to jump.  A laugh fell from her as she readjusted herself a bit there not to allow it to happen again, yet couldn’t figure out what he was doing there. “You aren’t sick,” she argued, catching that lift of his brow. “Oh c’mon, O… I don’t know.”  Knowing well that there was something here for her to figure out.  “You aren’t sick…”  She knew it wasn’t the point, though she couldn’t find what was, a clear distortion of her facial features as she attempted her way through unsuccessfully.  “Orion, please help me…”

Orion Hearing her give in and plead for help, smirking as the woman getting flustered was nothing short of entertaining for him. His hands finding her sides. "Im sick..." he stated again. "Sick...kc...kci...kcis...kiss?" Piecing it together for her bit by bit for her as she had been doing right for his command that entire time. "Mi...me?" He asked, a cock of his brow as she needed to put it all together.

Jade A hum found her lips as he put an end to her frustration, giving her more than enough there to understand exactly what he was doing there.  “Mmm,” she offered, a smirk to her lips now that she was privy to his game here.  Withholding that kiss from him as she eyed him a long moment before finally she’d lean in, stealing his lips for her own as her hand took to the side of his face.  “I have one better,” she offered there against his lips as she parted from him for a short moment to meet his eyes with her own.  “Marry me.”  All laughter and teasing was gone from her as she offered it to him in all seriousness.  There was no need for her to attempt to flip it around or twist it into some other phrase, completely confident in offering it to him just as simply as she offered most things.  Cut and dry, to the point.  Requesting from him exactly what she wanted.

Orion Pressing his lips back to hers as she gave him his hearts desire, he heard her playing her own variation of his name. "Em your-ram." He returned, hand reaching up to find the side of her neck as his thumb found her jawline. Holding her close in that moment as she was his safe place in this world as no one could have entered his life now and put up with him. This was years upon years of friendship all sitting there before him. Playing a game with him that should have expired about 15 years before.

Jade She’d hum her agreement to such as her lips found his again for what might stand to be their last kiss before she stole his name, only fitting seeing as he had stolen her heart long ago.  Slowly drawing back from his kiss, his hand there against her neck, thumb to her jaw, she drew a slow breath.  The array of emotions that day had been a rollercoaster at best, but in this moment, she could easily see the greatest reason of all to keep putting one foot in front of the other.  Her voice would swell at the back of her throat, unable to manage a single word as she seemed to transport somewhere else entirely for just a minute.  Lost in her own thoughts until finally a slow smile stole her lips.  Knowing she’d need to move, to draw back into her own seat, to allow him to leave the car, yet something was holding her right there in that moment, unable to think on to the next step.  The inside of his car had seen about as much emotion as the front steps of their building, and yet it would be marked in this moment by the silence that might speak louder than anything else she had to say.

Orion Watching her draw in a breath, his eyes remaining to hers as they marinated in that moment. There had been alot in the past few hours. More than the two had faced in years. Hell, the past year alone had been more than the two had ever faced in their time together. No other time would likely be as dramatic as this. Yet, there they were. Keeping his eyes on hers. Unchanging as his lips only tightened to allow them that moment. Well deserved as it was.

Jade “Hey, O,” she finally whispered, leaning in to steal his lips just one more time.  “You ready?” she asked, consistently checking with him at every step of their lives, forever in tune to making sure he was comfortable with what they were embarking upon, yet this time she couldn’t keep her own feelings separated as that smile to her lips would tell on her instantly.  Another kiss before she’d pose another.  “Because I might be a little more than ready,” she added, a bit of a confession as she slowly drew back from him.  A soft nod of her head as though she were to convince him, though she couldn’t help but wonder if he was already mentally inside the building, always seeming to be clearing the way for them, even if she thought it was herself that was always doing it for him.

Orion Hearing her whisper, his brows rose as he met her lips and he nodded at her question. Not a moment of hesitation as he had stated to her before. This was just a continuation of that which they already did. “Let’s.” he prompted as she drew back, not having to be told twice. Mentally he was already in that building and out, back into this parking lot. This very same spot where she’d be his wife in name and in truth and he would belong to her utterly. As if he had ever belonged to anyone else. Even before they realized their feelings and he had a few high school encounters here and there, it was she who held his heart.

Jade The bite to her lower lip was paired with a slight nod as she finally willed herself back into her own seat long enough to reach for the door handle.  Without a single person knowing what they were up to, they had snuck off to do things their way.  The moment the warm air hit her on the outside of the car, she was infused with excitement, though it would be mostly contained within. Reaching into her bag, she withdrew something, tucking it away in her hand as she closed the car door behind her.  Waiting there at her side of the car for him to join her, she looked up at the building before them.  The moment was not at all lost on her.  She understood fully what this was and what it meant, at which she was simply taking it all in one step at a time, committing every moment to memory as never again would they have a moment such as this.  

Orion Joining her a moment later as she looked up towards the building. Recognizing her gauging it as he had already done previously. He had been in that building a thousand times over but never in this capacity. Never on such a mission as he reached for her hand. Unknowing of what she had tucked away there in her hand as he tucked his keys away in his free hand as he was quite ready for this. Swearing he had been ready for years now as his eyes glanced down slowly towards hers with a reassuring smirk.

Jade As he joined her there on the passenger’s side of the car, she felt his hand instantly taking to her own.  Allowing herself but another moment there to simply stare at the structure before them, she finally lifted her eyes to meet his, finding his already there for her, along with that reassuring smirk of his.  Drawing an even breath, she’d lift her brows slightly with that gentle nod of her head, letting him know she was more than ready to do this.  On her shoulders, she’d carried the weight of many situations throughout her life, always there, ready to jump out and steal something from her.  Orion had witnessed it himself on more than one occasion, at just how quickly something old could take away from that which they were enjoying in the present.  But here, he’d find nothing of the sort.  She’d grown stronger than that past over time and though there were pieces that would continue to rear their ugly head from time to time, throwing her temporarily off kilter, this wouldn’t be one of those times.  A gentle squeeze of her hand and she was taking those first steps with him to cross the short distance between the parking lot and the building.

Orion Allowing her to take those first steps, he wasn’t far behind. Held to her hand as he gave her a gentle squeeze in return. “Excited?” he asked, attempting to read her silence for either that or afraid. Still, there wasn’t much to fear here. As previously discussed, only so much would be changed. Her name, their marital status come tax time, basic medical insurance. Yet, she’d still be in his bed every night and her coffee cup would sit next to his along with her towel and her toothbrush all perfectly in place. Getting closer to that building step by step where the closeness of the two would be easily read as their true intent.

Jade “I am,” she quickly admitted without a moment of delay.  It may have all come down to a name and a legal filing status of married filing jointly, as their day to day life wouldn’t alter much, but she knew there was so much more than that.  It was coming through a six-month separation that truly nearly killed the both of them.  It was solidifying what they both always knew about the other.  It was an outward expression of an internal feeling.  They would still return home just as they had left, and yet she somehow just knew she’d feel different.  Strangely enough considering there was someone literally growing inside of her and she didn’t feel any different there, yet she knew once the ink was put to paper, she’d feel differently.  Going against the advice of her therapists who highly suggested she partake in no life altering decisions, that she ease back into the world she had left, she’d take every step forward with complete confidence not only in their decision to do this their way, but in the man whose hand she held tightly in her own.  “I’m ready,” she confirmed, as it was perhaps even stronger than the feeling of excitement for her.  She’d been ready.  She’d known years before, but it wasn’t until those months away from him that she’d found out just how much so.  Turning her head to meet his eyes as they walked, her smile was there on her face just as pure and true as it always was.  She wasn’t one for it previously, but a lot had changed in this woman since her return.  She was more open to things.  She was more expressive.  She had seen what it was to live without him and somehow it made her more present to live with him.  No longer watching life through a window where it was safe, she was experiencing it with him a little more every day.  “Are you?” she asked, tightening her hand in his as her feet found the front steps of the building.

Orion “Yes.” the man returned simply upon her question, how could he not be? Just one cast down towards her reminded him that he didn’t deserve her. Many had said it through the years and he deserved it. A weird man of his caliber to have lucked out with such an attractive women. That was perhaps why Orion was the way he was with her. Not just because he loved her or that he genuinely was not out to treat her badly, but the fact that he knew she was more than he deserved. That it all so easily could slip through his fingertips as a gift of that magnitude should not have been allowed to return. Getting to those front steps, he was guiding the door open for her and holding it accordingly.

Jade A simple return to her question was more than enough as she knew she could take every word from his mouth as the God’s honest truth as the man would never tell her a lie.  She wasn’t even sure if he was capable of such a thing.  As the door was opened to her, she’d step through, yet her eyes would immediately be drawing her to turn back around to wait for him.  Going through the motions here as she would with most everything else, letting him take that lead, guiding her through, while he trusted her to say when something wasn’t right for her along the way.  It was funny how the same scenario could be applied in everything from their more intimate moments to something as simple as ordering dinner.  She had seen a destructive, evil man in her lifetime.  More of them than she cared to count.  Ones that she would need to keep her guard up around.  And yet this one, though as deadly as any should he be provoked with all things considered, she knew she had nothing to guard herself from.  Just inside the building the two had been in dozens, if not hundreds, of times before, it wouldn’t look the same to her at all, as they were merely steps away from solidifying that which they had been within for as long as she could remember.  

Orion Taking up her hand once they were both through as the large building held nothing but magic for Orion as a child. Briefly, he would come here with his grandfather over one thing or another. Taxes, certificates, licenses. He was always in awe of the size and the majesty of the structure with its columns and vaulted ceilings. Like a modern Sisteen chapel laid up within Boston. Yet, he couldn’t take his eyes off of her in that moment as his lips snagged her temple briefly. Guiding her towards the proper gate where he had seen a hundred people go through those doors and equally as many come out but never thinking himself to someday be one of them.

Jade There within the building, she felt his hand taking to hers, followed by the kiss he’d offer to her temple, prompting a soft smile to her features.  A part of her feeling as though this were as casual as going to the grocery store where the other part of her was fully invested to the gravity of that which they set out to do here.  Just through those doors, there was a clerk who they would need to register with.  A short piece of paperwork to be filled out, then notarized, and then they would be asked the all-important questions that would ultimately lead to their legal union.  Once they got to those doors, it was only in that moment that she thought to ask him one more time to be sure he was sure, but as she looked up at him to do so, everything about this man said yes.  Instead of asking, she’d simply smile, stepping through the open door where there on the counter was already papers with a small sign that instructed for them to be filled out.  She reached out to take the clipboard, offering it to him as she collected a pen from the small meshed metal tin that held them.  

Orion Following not far behind as she proceeded forward to collect the necessary paperwork. Everything was paperwork. Always. Fortunately, Orion didn't much mind it as she offered him the clipboard and the pen to boot. Not much liking the disposable ones for their texture but it would suffice as he took a step towards the row of seats. "I just realized...we could have brought Crash now that he's got his certs." Sighing dramatically at the absence of their furry child for the occasion, they'd have to manage.

Jade She honestly hadn’t even thought of bringing Crash along with them, though now that they were there and he had mentioned it, she couldn’t help but think he should be there.  Though they had only had the pup a little over two and a half weeks, he had surely become a part of their family which was now apparently growing by one more.  Things were happening fast.  Faster than Jade would have ever been alright with in the past, and yet with every step, she was feeling a little more complete than she had the day before.  “We should have,” she confessed, a soft sigh just beyond her agreement as she watched him with that clipboard and pen.  The vacated counter was now occupied by a woman in her late fifties who had seen many a couple come through those doors.  Jade offered a timid smile to the woman as she assured the couple had all that they needed there.  “I believe so,” she offered as the woman went on to inform them of the fees and such.  Having left her bag in the car, only retrieving an item there in her hand from within, she’d look to Orion to be sure he had his wallet on him, though knowing the man always seemed to have absolutely everything covered, thankfully picking up the slack for his slightly forgetful temporary fiancé.  

Orion Reaching in his back pocket to retrieve his wallet which he handed to Jade to handle. Anything of importance within as he returned to the paperwork. Letting her handle it all as he went on in peace. Never was there a more concentrated effort. Letting her handle the more social efforts as he so often did. Smirking to himself as he threw her to the wolves. Missing Crash for this reason as he kept him from having to socialize.

Jade With Orion’s wallet in her hand, it wouldn’t be the first time, nor would it be the last that she’d leave her personal effects behind and need his wallet to complete such things, hence the reason she had a public identification card sitting within to mimic the driver’s license in her own bag.  Withdrawing his credit card as well as both of their pieces of identification, she passed them along to the woman behind the counter as Orion continued there with the paperwork.  When he completed, she’d offer her signature in the assigned place.  Once the card was ran and both articles of identification had been checked for authenticity, the woman returned all three to her, which she’d place back into the wallet before taking it upon herself to situate it into his back pocket for her own selfish desires there.  The woman behind the counter assured they were good to go as soon as the form was completed, to which Jade would thank her before she was slipping off to collect the Xerox copies of their identification.  Leaning into Orion’s arm, she pressed a kiss to the sleeve of his shirt.  “When did you memorize my social security number?” she asked teasing him as it seemed he had answered nearly every space on the form without needing any assistance from his wife to be.

Orion Hearing her speak to him, he glanced over towards her. A blank look in a moment of realization that he probably shouldn't have known any better. Finally, a smirk broke. "I've known it for a while." The man confessed, finishing up the rest of it as he gave up his signature at the end of it before offering her the pen. The only thing he couldn't do for her. "I can try to forget it...if you'd like?" He offered, or he'd atleast pretend to forget it as he snagged a kiss to her cheek.

Jade As he passed the form and pen in her direction, she’d easily sign her name there at the bottom for the last time in this lifetime, or at least she’d hope.  The little girl who had gone through a name change at only two years old, never allowed to fully settle into the name she’d been given at birth, was changing her name at her own desires this time.  A quiet thought in the back of her mind that whispered ‘goodbye Kerrigan’, yet there wasn’t an ounce of sadness in the woman to let that one go.  Having often considered going to her birth name, yet now she couldn’t be more pleased to be exchanging both of her former names for his.  “No,” she offered quickly, not minding that he knew it at all.  There was nothing about her that was off limits to him.  If she knew it, he had every right to know it.  The only things he wouldn’t know were things she couldn’t remember herself.  With her name inked there at the bottom, the form was passed along to the woman behind the counter as she returned from the printer with everything the two would need.  Feeling that kiss to her cheek, she was turning into him to steal his lips for a brief moment before making eye contact with the woman who directed them through a set of wooden doors to take what was referred to as their oath.  This phrasing brought a smile to Jade’s lips as it was just that for her.  So much more than vows or promises.  But an oath to live by, never to be given up on.  “I’ll let you keep it,” she teased, a smile offered in his direction as she waited for him to take the lead there towards those doors.  “Seeing as you let me keep you and all,” she added, knowing the six months she was gone truly could have gone either way as made evident by the woman who interrupted their first night out upon her return.  People wanted him to move on from her, convincing him she’d never return, and yet he’d held out for her which said he had the rights to anything she had or was for the rest of time.

Orion "Good...because I couldn't forget if I wanted to." He stated honestly, hearing her mention letting him keep her. Having to roll his eyes lightly. Like anyone else could ever want him. It was either her or alone. Even if she left him tomorrow, he'd be resolved to knowing that he knew a life with love and had his shot. Reaching her as he escorted her through those doors. Taking up her hand. Tucking his wallet back into his pocket as his eyes drifted back to those doors as he knew what laid behind them.

Jade She knew he couldn’t have forgotten, nor would she have held him to that.  The man’s mind was like nothing she’d ever known, considering herself privileged to have access to such a vast amount of knowledge in her very own version of the walking internet beside her.  The thought drew a smirk from the woman, but she wouldn’t let him in on that one.  As he guided her through the doors, there was no looking back for her.  A judge sat behind the wall of a mahogany desk, a welcoming smile to her features.  A moment later, Jade and Orion’s paperwork was brought to her by the woman that had helped them at the front desk before she was slipping back out of some side door again.  The judge’s eyes glanced down over the paperwork before lifting her head back to the two before her.  She rose to her feet, coming around the large piece of furniture to stand before Jade and Orion.  When asked if they were read to begin, Jade glanced to Orion with a soft bite to her lower lip and a nod to her head.

‘We are here today to celebrate the love that Orion and Jade have for each other, and to recognize and witness their decision to journey forward in their lives as marriage partners,” she began, reciting something she might have said a hundred times a day and yet the sentiment still remained.  “May your love create a safe haven for you both on the journey that lies ahead of you. Lead with your hearts and take the time to do the simple things that will nurture your love.  Deeply listen to each other—to your dreams, and to your frustrations. Be helpmates. Be playful in finding new ways to give your love anew to each other every day.  Let your love be an inspiration to others to reach for what is good within us all.  It is your love that has brought you together here today. May it grow deeper and sweeter with each passing year.”

Do you, Orion take, Jade to be your partner for life. Do you promise to walk by her side forever, and to love, help, and encourage her in all she does? Do you promise to take time to talk with her, to listen to her, and to care for her? Will you share her laughter, and her tears, as her partner, lover, and best friend? Do you take her as your lawfully wedded wife for now and forevermore?

Do you, Jade take, Orion to be your partner for life. Do you promise to walk by his side forever, and to love, help, and encourage him in all he does? Do you promise to take time to talk with him, to listen to him, and to care for him? Will you share his laughter, and his tears, as his partner, lover and best friend? Do you take him as your lawfully wedded husband for now and forevermore?

Orion “Yes ma’am.” Orion answered dutifully upon the question as he had been ready for sometime now. He woke up ready. Yet, he avoided being cheesy as he was sure this woman had heard just about everything possible in this moment. Only wondering if it would be deemed as inappropriate to say his vows backwards, he could only smirk at the mental suggestion as he met her eyes. “You might want to check with her though. She’s getting the raw end of things.” he teased.

Jade Orion’s statement would draw a full smirk from the woman as no part of this was a raw deal for her.  “Yes ma’am,” she repeated, the judge finding a smile there as well as she watched the two seeming far more at ease than many that entered her chambers.  Giving the two but a moment to settle in, as well as two witnesses to come in through the same doors Jade and Orion had entered through, she’d begin.  ‘We are here today to celebrate the love that Orion and Jade have for each other, and to recognize and witness their decision to journey forward in their lives as husband and wife,’ she began, reciting something she might have said a hundred times a day and yet the sentiment still remained.  ‘May your love create a safe haven for you both on the journey that lies ahead of you. Lead with your hearts and take the time to do the simple things that will nurture your love.  Deeply listen to each other—to your dreams, and to your frustrations. Be helpmates. Be playful in finding new ways to give your love anew to each other every day.  Let your love be an inspiration to others to reach for what is good within us all.  It is your love that has brought you together here today. May it grow deeper and sweeter with each passing year.’  Her advice as well as recommendations were not lost on Jade as she listened intently with each word the woman spoke.  Only after she had finished did Jade lean into Orion’s arm, still grasping something small in the palm of her free hand.  ‘Do the two of you have vows that you would like to make to one another?’ she asked, prepared with ready-made vows should they wish to rely on them.  Jade cut her eyes up at Orion, not having thought this far, prepared to fall back on those that were prewritten unless he should think otherwise.

Orion The list of the recommendations was simply what they had been doing since the beginning. No different from their beginnings. While they had gotten off track because of her work, they had gotten back with a deeper, new appreciation. Crazy how nearly losing one another had forged the bond. At the mention of vows, he knew there were several things he could most likely recite from the top of his head yet he wouldn’t do that to her. “We’ll do those later.” he admitted as his eyes shot to Jade, knowing they could do their own vows in the privacy of their apartment. “For now, we’ll take the prewritten ones.” he willed as he glanced back towards the judge.

Jade There was a nod of both agreement and thanks to him for letting her off the hook there as it was already known that he was far deeper than she was and would blow her out of the room without any preparation.  She’d want time on those promises to be shared with him privately, when nerves wouldn’t be an issue.  Her eyes glanced to the judge, a nod of her head to agree with his lead on this as it perhaps suited them even better.  ‘Turn towards one another and simply respond to these questions.’  She gave a moment for the two to do just that.  Jade turned towards him, the smile still paired with a slight bite to her lower lip as she met his eyes fully.  Still keeping that one hand away from him, though now she’d allow it to slip under his.  He’d be able to tell she was holding something, though what it was had yet to be determined.  ‘Do you, Orion take, Jade to be your partner for life? Do you promise to walk by her side forever, and to love, help, and encourage her in all she does? Do you promise to take time to talk with her, to listen to her, and to care for her? Will you share her laughter, and her tears, as her partner, lover, and best friend? Do you take her as your lawfully wedded wife for now and forevermore?’  It would be in this very moment that it would all become completely real to the woman that stood before him.  Still it would not be nervousness that would settle upon her, but the one who thought she’d been aware of the full gravity of everything every step of the way would feel it there now all at once.  It was not the traditional phrasings, and thankfully it didn’t ask either of them to repeat anything, but merely to respond with a simple pairing of words of their choosing, but even still, she’d draw a deep breath with hazel eyes set firmly to his.

Orion Hearing each word, each phrase, each sentiment. He breathed them in. Still while knowing his vows would be /way/ better. Meeting her eyes, one of the only people in this world that he could look in the eyes. Let alone, find solace within that gaze. A light smile. “I do.” he concluded with an ease like he had said that a hundred times over. Like he had been married a million times. Not a boy who had only loved one girl in his entire life yet this was how comfortable he was with her. No hesitation. Nothing but sheer confidence in those vows as he would never say them again unless it be a renewal of vows after a few kids and years between them.

Jade She’d have to hold herself back from instantly stating that she did too, almost not needing to hear the judge speak the words in her direction, yet for the sake of ceremony, she would wait her turn.  Her hand tightened in his as he confirmed his agreement to this oath before the same words were offered for her agreement.  ‘Do you, Jade take, Orion to be your partner for life? Do you promise to walk by his side forever, and to love, help, and encourage him in all he does? Do you promise to take time to talk with him, to listen to him, and to care for him? Will you share his laughter, and his tears, as his partner, lover, and best friend? Do you take him as your lawfully wedded husband for now and forevermore?’  There was no hesitation from the woman as she quickly committed her “I do.”  It was here that she would open her hand to discover a small Ziploc bag that was meant to hold a pair of earrings or a dainty bracelet, but within was two candies.  She’d withdraw both of her hands to unzip the bag, placing both candies into Orion’s hand.  The words etched on the tiny hearts reading ‘I love you’.  It wouldn’t make much sense to the judge as she paused to allow Jade to do what she wished here, marking the first time in her professional career she’d seen something of this type.  It was clear that it was highly personal to the two, yet she’d never be privy to the full gravity of just what was behind this.  Taking one from his hand, she brought it to his lips, depositing it softly there within as she had no ring to offer him.  Their spur of the moment decision to do this had her only offering to him to be from the box of candies they had fought between the night before.  After everything, it would be the childhood innocence that had started them off so many years before and she would bring it here, as the thing that would send them into their married life as well as she asked him silently to share his candy with her.

Orion Hearing her “I do”, he wasn’t expecting much more until he watched her at something. Watching her allow those items into his hand yet one look would earn a smirk out of him. Quickly understanding as the red etching said all that needed to be said. Watching her take one and offer it to him, he parted his lips to allow his teeth to take it. Reaching for the left over one in his hand to offer that one to her in return much the same and at her lips. Their own silent exchange that could not have worked much better here. Quite impressed with this woman of his as she styled him the clever one but had outdone him this time around.

Jade As he brought the candy there to her lips, her lips parted instantly to him, allowing her teeth to grip the candy gently just as he had.  Drawing it against her tongue, she’d let it sit there as the judge continued on with the ever important conclusion that would render the two husband and wife.  ‘By the act of joining hands, you take to yourself the relation of husband and wife and solemnly promise to love, honor, comfort and cherish each other so long as you both shall live. Therefore, in accordance with the law and virtue of the authority vested in me by the state of Massachusetts, I do pronounce you husband and wife.  You came to me as two single people and you will now leave as a married couple, united to each other by the binding contract you have just entered. Your cares, your worries, your pleasures and your joys you must share with each other. The best of good fortune to both of you.’  After a brief pause, the judge offered an honest smile as she met the eyes of the two before her.  ‘Orion, you may kiss your bride.’  Jade still held the candy there against her tongue, letting the sugar melt against her taste buds as the judge spoke, not allowing her teeth to penetrate the candy until she had spoken to Orion.  There, she would bite down, swallowing the pieces before she was offering a smile up at him at the official pronouncing of the two as husband and wife.

Orion Chewing after he had saw her give the go ahead, a moment of hesitation as he assured he swept his mouth clean of the residue. An apologetic smile that she’d recognize before he was leaning in and fusing his lips to hers. Solidifying that bond made before men and gods, how many of them they were in truth, he’d never suggest to know. Which one he subscribed to, even more questionable. Yet, this much he did know. He loved the woman there before him. He was both in love with her as he was to be but he loved her truly as a friend. As the girl with the sad eyes that he had wanted so much to make happy even if he wasn’t either. Through their teenage years when hormones took previously innocent intentions and churned them into desires. Still, he loved her all the same and that kiss there would prove it.

Jade She’d never know why he’d offer a smile that looked like an apology.  He’d never have anything to be sorry for.  Surely it couldn’t be for it being him that she married, nor could it be that which was within his mouth.  There was nothing at all, as the man was absolute perfection in her eyes just as he would always be.  Perfect didn’t mean without flaw.  Perfect meant he was perfect for her, countering her own flaws with his abilities and hoping she could do the same in return for him.  He was perfect, even if he’d never see it, and she counted herself as the single luckiest woman in the world to not only know him, but to love him as well.  With the same candy on his breath as was on hers, she felt his lips taking her own.  Both of her hands found the sides of his mid-section, softly gripping to the fabric of his shirt as the judge lowered her head to allow the two of them a moment before she’d finally offer something verbally.  Something as small as a kiss to any other couple had taken them time to get to.  Each time their lips would touch, she knew it was sacred, beyond the bounds of a typical kiss.  A smile there in the midst of the kiss would come from the woman now referred to as his wife, thus breaking that kiss only for her to start another.  ‘May I be the first to congratulate you, Mr. and Mrs. King.’  The words from the judge would send another smile sweeping over her features where she was whispering to him there against his lips.  “I so love you.”

Orion Each kiss was hardly taken for granted. He remembered their first and seemingly each one under as it took a tag number in his mind and was stored away for reference on a later date. Feeling her break her kiss only to reseal it. The congratulations and announcement of the joint names as his arms swept her midsection. Smirking softly to her lips. “and I love you.” he returned, lips finding her forehead as he gently rubbed his hand over her back. “Ghityna naht erom…” he followed up in true Orion fashion.

Jade As his arms swept around her, her hands would release their hold there at the sides of his shirt to wrap around his neck, allowing the two to easily form one to the other.  The judge offered another quiet congratulations as she made her way out of the side door of the chambers, allowing the two that moment together.  The kiss of his lips to her forehead followed by a phrase just as those in the car had been had a smile to her lips as he started off their marriage in a manner she would have easily anticipated and encouraged.  “You make it hard to breathe when you say things like that,” she whispered, not at all a correction to the man, but a true profession of just how deeply his sentiment would hit her.  Lifting her chin, she’d steal another soft pass of her lips to his before she was drawing back a step to meet the eyes of her husband.  He didn’t look any different to her, and yet there was an overall feeling of completeness welling in her soul.

Orion Hearing her whisper, slightly surprised she had attempted this one before she was stealing his lips. Pressing back to hers before he eyed her draw. A slight smile as she seemed either ready to leave or just looking him over. Still, he’d take the decision for her as he stole another quick kiss as if to sate him for that brief walk to the doors. Hand within hers. “You think Crash will forgive us for leaving him out?” he asked teasingly as he glanced back towards her over his shoulder.

Jade She wasn’t really thinking about staying or leaving when she’d drawn back, just simply needing to /see/ him.  As he made the choice for them, stealing her hand as he led her towards the door, she caught that glimpse of his eyes towards her.  “I think we have a better chance of him forgiving us for this than of him forgiving us when I lock him out of the bedroom tonight,” she stated honestly.  A bit bold for this tiny wife of his, but she instantly understood the concept now of why people had honeymoon’s.  All she wanted was to be close to the man and a fifteen-minute drive would surely prove daunting at best.  Tightening her hand in his as they made their way towards those wooden doors where just beyond they would find their official marriage certificate was printed and waiting for them, the woman couldn’t stop looking at the man.  Still, he looked the same, and yet the way she would look to him was truly altogether different.  She couldn’t have imagined that she’d feel any different, but it was there in her eyes and completely undeniable.  

Orion "Ohh..." smirking at that statement which would usually be enough to bring him to a complete blush. But not now. Now nothing short of excitement radiated from him. Glancing back towards her as he quite liked the sounds of that. Guiding open one of those doors for her where the legal proof laid. Excited to receive that certificate as palpable evidence. Named emblazoned across them where he was pulling her back into him.

Jade Just beyond that door, she was greeted by the same woman that had helped them with their initial paperwork and fees, offering her a signed and dated certificate upon which their marriage was proven.  “Thank you,” she offered, taking the envelope into her hand as she felt him tugging against her.  Easily going into him where she was quickly finding the two to have a charm about them that was reminiscent of them at least five years prior, yet altogether more comfortable with one another than they were in those times.  One hand in his, the other gripping the envelope she now held at his chest, her hazel eyes were set upon his.  “There ya go, Mister King.  It’s official,” she stated, her tone dragging out the last word as she offered a slight nod of her head.  Finding it difficult to reel in her own excitement as she was far too invested in enjoying that front row seat to his.

Orion Glancing down towards her as she spoke, a light smile finding him as he nodded. "It is definitely official." He hummed as he glanced down towards that envelope clasped to his chest. An even inhale as a thought finally formed to him. A tilt of his head. "I guess we are gonna have to reschedule that Italy/Israel trip, huh?" He asked at the realization that they might need to slightly postpone or get promptly onto it.

Jade Meeting his eyes as he asked about their trip, the two were steadily making their way outside to the Boston air where they’d step out together as husband and wife for the first time.  “Why would we have to reschedule it?” she asked, drawing back from him slightly as she saw no reason to delay something they may never have the time to do again.  “We’re both free from work.  We have about eight months before we’re joined by someone that will make sure we never get to run off and do things ever again,” she reminded him.  “I think if there was ever a time to do it, it’s now.  We can call your travel agent from the car, let them work out the details, and we get to go home and piss off Crash,” she reminded him with a smirk to her lips that would fade almost as suddenly as it had appeared.  “Unless you don’t want to go…” she offered, realizing all of a sudden that maybe he thought it was a bad idea.  Tapping into his thoughts on things consistently as she sought to do what he thought best, even after she’d already said she still wanted to go.  “How long are you thinking we should delay it?”

Orion "Because we should take sometime to learn what your pregnancy is like. With any luck, it would be an easy one but sometimes it isn't so likely. I wouldn't want you to be laid up in a hotel room while you are uncomfortable." He reminded her simply. Yet, hearing her explanation. He nodded. They may have to run the risk yet he knew he'd feel terrible if she wasn't allowed to enjoy it. Smirking at the mention of Crash before she spiraled. Cocking a brow back at her as it was hardly relevant. A shake of his head. "It's nothing like that...I'm just trying to consider potential avenues." He added, inhaling a deep breath of the evening air as it cooled. Hand still within hers where he gave up a reassuring squeeze.

Jade He had a point, as he always did; one that she had yet to think of.  In truth, she felt no different than she always had, therefore hadn’t even thought about what it might look like should she fall ill.  “You’re right,” she offered quietly just as his hand gripped to her own.  Suddenly, she didn’t know.  It was a risk, as was everything else she imagined, and yet she didn’t want anything to stop them either.  If she fell sick, she’d brave through it just as she braved through most everything else that she came face to face with.  Orion wanted this trip just as much as she did.  In this moment as they were descending the steps in front of the building, she recalled their conversation and how they were both contributing with such enthusiasm at what lay ahead in their temporary states of freedom.  “I still want to go,” she confessed as they found themselves nearing the vehicle.  “If I get sick, we’ll find a doctor or something, but I still think we should do this.”

Orion "I'm not going to consent to something you don't enjoy." He reminded her as his free hand held to that envelope for dear life as they approached the car. "We'll wait a few weeks and see how you are feeling. Patterns, irregularities. And if it lucks out and the doctor says it's alright, we'll call the agent." He decided aloud, hand dragging her to his. Kissing the back of her hand once again as he had done in the car. Approaching the passenger side different as they had walked here in the first place.

Jade She glanced up as he made a decision there for the both of them, though knowing there was a good chance they’d both be back at work by then and such things wouldn’t be feasible any longer.  Instead, she’d nod, not willing to let this put a damper on the day with all that they had done and learned at the same time.  Maybe it was for the best to put it off for another time.  Though swinging two weeks might be nearly impossible for the two at a later date, they might be able to swing a week or even five days.  “Alright,” she offered as he walked there to the passenger side of the car, pressing his lips to the back of her hand.  “We should do something though, right?” she asked, as it was what was typically referred to as a honeymoon, which they now didn’t have one planned.  “A couple of days even?” she continued on, trying to work through this as casually as she could, but the disappointment was there just beneath the surface as she struggled with doing what she wanted to do and letting him take care of her all at the same time.

Orion Hearing the disappointment in her voice, stopping at the passenger side door as he unlocked it yet made no point to open the door. Facing her in attempt to understand what to do. A tilt of his head as he exhaled an even breath.  "Or...we can do it now..." he offered, only thinking of her comfort yet if she wanted it that bad, head tilting. "I'm giving you the option...you tell me...what you'd like."

Jade As he stopped there at the door, turning around to face her, she knew she’d struck something in him.  She knew he’d only seek to make her happy, comfortable, and yet she’d said enough to make him think she wasn’t. “No, you’re right.  Italy and Israel will still be there after we know what this whole pregnancy thing looks like.  It’s fine, O, I promise.”  She offered quickly, not wishing to make him think anything more than just that.  “I’d like to take advantage of the fact that we both have nowhere to be at 9 a.m. tomorrow, but other than that, I’m good.”  She was more than alright with the two of them just going somewhere rather local, not too far of a drive, something so they could celebrate that which they just did, yet at the same time, she was torn between tradition and wondering what it was that he genuinely wanted to do.  Bringing her free hand there to the side of his face, she lifted to press her lips to his.  “Just take your wife home and we’ll figure it out tomorrow,” she offered, as nothing was happening before then anyway and she’d made no secret of her desire for him up until now.  

Orion Hearing her mention figuring it out tomorrow, he was alright with postponing this conversation for the next day. They had gone through enough and while they were handling it well, he couldn’t help but think one more might be what tips the boat. One more slip up, one more disagreement, difficulty. He nodded, reaching out to open her door and allow her within. “‘The timeless in you is aware of life's timelessness. And knows that yesterday is but today's memory and tomorrow is today's dream.’” he stated, a direct quote that he felt fitting for the occasion.

Jade Just as she was about to slip into the car, she heard him start to speak, calling her eyes to fall upon him once more.  Her features did not display disappointment in the slightest as a smile slowly took her features.  “Ask me why I love you so?” she offered rhetorically as the answer was right there between them where his words hung in the air, soothing the woman nearly instantly from the twist of emotions that welled within her.  One hand there to the side of his face, she’d steal a telling kiss from his lips before she finally lowered herself into the vehicle, her fingertips slowly vacating the man’s flesh as she let him take those steps necessary to getting them home.  It could have gone either way here, but he would so easily bring it all back around for her.  They had tomorrow and the one after that.  So the initial plan had been put on hold. It didn’t mean they couldn’t do something, something of their own, done in their own way.  If there was a way to congratulate the man for bringing things back around, she would have offered it, but instead he would find a simple kiss and a smile would have to do for now.

Orion “Why do you love me so…” playfully miscalculating as he got what she was saying but acting as if he didn’t just to answer the request. Feeling her steal a kiss before she was in the car. Closing the door for her as he walked around the side of it. Opening the drivers side where he slipped within and started the car. Reaching out to lay that envelope carefully on her lap as if it held nuclear codes.

Jade His return of her question would bring a laugh to her lips that would fill the vacant space of the car in his absence as he rounded the exterior of the vehicle to join her within.  As the envelope came there against her lap, she took it into both hands, unfolding the flap so that she might remove the document within.  “On this day, the fifth of September, two thousand and sixteen…” she began reading aloud as he got situated and started the car, deciding to alter the words here a bit.  “Orion Malcolm King and Jade Elizabeth Kerrigan are united in holy matrimony.  From this day forward, Orion will spend his days earning money for Jade to spend on Crash and baby King while Jade will spend her days napping on the sofa and watching crime t.v.”  Obviously teasing as the woman didn’t truly have a lazy bone in her body, nor did staying home full time entertain her in the slightest.  She had to work.  She had to do something.  Though the prospects were looking rather bleak at the moment, she knew there was a possibility that someday soon, maybe.  Though this in itself would be something to heavily consider now that they held the knowledge of a little one within her.  Psychological approval or not; the woman didn’t know now even more than she didn’t know before if she’d be returning to a life under the badge or not.  Side eyeing the man as she read the last sentence, there was a telling smirk against her features.

Orion “That part must have been in the fine print…oh look, they misspelled my first name…” teasingly pointing out what would get him out of that contract, he shook his head slightly as even that would not send him running towards the hills. Meeting her smirk before he was glancing in back of him to see out of the parking spot. Shifting into drive as they began their trek back home. “I’d just hope it would be something a little more fruitful than Cops and Criminal Minds…you know? Unless you were into that one kid with the really bad Aspergers…then I guess I could allow it.” he reasoned with a shrug of his shoulders.

Jade “I don’t even think it’s possible to misspell your name…” she argued, not letting him out so easily.  As the car began moving backwards, there were so many things on her mind that she’d missed it begin moving forwards until they were nearly out of the parking lot, realizing she’d spaced out for a second there.  “Nah, crime t.v. is too predictable for me.  I’d have to go with something way out of left field…” she offered, attempting to sort her way through random television viewing as it suddenly hit her.  “Like… porn.”  Definitely attempting to catch his attention there, wondering if he could simply shrug this one off as well.  “I’ll watch porn all day and then when you get home from work, I’ll meet you at the door, naked.  That’s what married looks like, right?” she teased, her hand folding the paper back into the envelope for safe keeping since she’d effectively turned it into a complete joke, while behind the façade, it would be a treasured document that would surely be in a safe or a vault, something that nothing could damage or destroy.

Orion “That’ll be the day when you watch porn…” laughing at the mere suggestion, hearing her continue onto her joke as he shrugged his shoulders. “I mean, my last few ones went something like that…” he attempted dryly while having his hands ready to block his face should a smack or hit inevitably follow, side eyeing her briefly as she protected that certificate. Still amused at the idea of her watching porn after how mad she had been at him when she found out that he had done so occasionally to relieve himself. Only able to wonder if she remembered that moment.

Jade “Your last few ones went something like what?!” she instantly called out with no filter for the volume that would come forth from the woman.  His attempt to shield himself was for the best as there was nothing she could do to stop her left arm from swinging into his direction.  “I can’t believe you’d even joke about that!”  Her laughter coated every statement, though there would be a part of her deep down that didn’t like the idea of him seeing another woman naked, ever, be it in person or on screen and that confession had not been forgotten by the woman.  She’d only ever seen him and that’s the way it would remain, though she couldn’t even bring herself to pretend she’d been with another at any point in time as it would be even more far-fetched than her casual porn viewing would be.  “My last few went something like that…” she attempted to mock, cutting her eyes as though she were mad, bringing her arms to cross over her chest while the envelope remained there against her lap.  

Orion Blocking himself from her swing, quite liking the reaction as he gave her a telling smile. Her mock only making him laugh again. “That was horrible.” he stated honestly, not quite thinking she pulled off a man’s voice but maybe for the best as he reached for one of her hands to soothe the ache. Hand passing over hers to attempt to draw it forward. “No one else would ever marry me, Jade. It’s just you.” he stated honestly as he flashed her his best winning smile. Using her attraction for him as a bonus.

Jade “That girl from the restaurant would have married you,” she reminded him.  The stabbing reminder that there had been other opportunities for the man, and he had seen other women.  She knew she was no longer exactly as innocent as she had been considering their own recent developments, but she also knew she’d never be a woman that could greet him at the door naked, with confidence for days.  She knew he’d always be stuck with her and her insecurities in this fashion.  Yet, as he took her hand to his, offering her that smile of his, she felt him melting through the icy exterior that so often took hold of her.  “They might not marry you, but they’d definitely do other things,” she reminded him, a pout sweeping her features as the little bit of jealousy within the woman had been struck upon, though she couldn’t quite figure if he had struck it or if she had somehow gotten them there, but either way, it was there now and was going to take some effort on her own part to put away.  

Orion “She would not have.” he stated honestly as he had not made the best impression with her, not sure she realized how bad that had gone because they had never discussed it. Yet, if she ever wanted insight. He’d enlighten her. “Trust me, I made a complete ass of myself so I hid in my apartment for 5 months afterwards.” he confessed, though truth be told, he was holding back on what those 5 months had concerned. How he had filled his time. Yet, he never hoped she would know. Eyeing her pout, he shook his head as his eyes were back to the road. “Only you, Jade.”

Jade She had avoided the contents of what his date with the blonde had looked like, as she would attempt to continue to do so.  She couldn’t picture it.  She couldn’t imagine what it would be like for him to sit with someone else, to be interested in someone else’s life, to be there with the intent to potentially see someone again.  The thought alone had a sick feeling radiating through her where she’d only be able to attribute it to this conversation as she’d felt no illness previously.  As he confirmed only her, she nodded her head as she effectively dropped the subject in exchange for most anything else.  She wasn’t the possessive girl, and yet this would draw it forth in her.  Orion had been hers for as long as she could remember.  She thought to herself that their relationship started the day she showed up at his apartment door in a tattered nightgown with her twin brother, running away from pure hell as the gun went off in the background at the hands of her ‘mother’.  It was then that it began for her, and it was there that he became hers.  Nothing else had existed, or so she had convinced herself.  During their time apart, she played a role, but she was not a part of it in the slightest.  It was for something bigger, which she accomplished by the skin of her teeth, nearly losing who she was in the process, but fighting tooth and nail to return to this man whose hand she held and name she bore.  Reaching down into her bag with her free hand, she withdrew the rest of the box of candies that she had stolen the two from to use during their ceremony, unfolding the lid to it to reach in and steal a few.  One for him, two for her, bringing his to his lips as he drove.  “I guess it doesn’t much matter now, seeing as we’re there, but this whole baby thing… was that something you wanted or thought you wanted or?”

Orion He had always been hers, he always would be. He had been every bit hers during that trip and maybe if she knew the depth of his depression in those times, she would understand. While she had gotten a taste, she had not gotten all of it. She had gotten the cutting, but not the substance. The things he had done to not feel at all. Bleeding it out before medicating. Anything to just exist into the next day. Hearing her speak as she opened her box as his lips parted for hers. “It doesn’t matter at all. You’re only one of a few people I’ve ever been able to connect with in my life. Let alone on the playing field that we have. I never thought this was an option. No one did. Everyone just thought that I’d get a job and work my whole life and just be that guy who never got these things because he was too weird or too standoffish. I never got that ‘one day, when you get married’ talk. No one viewed it as an option and neither did I. It’s only been you, I don’t know how else to show you that but maybe one day you’ll understand exactly what I went through when you weren’t there and you’ll get it.” he allowed as he chewed the candy heart. Not wanting to go here with that envelope on her lap though it seems the two couldn’t stay out of this mode. Hearing her mention the baby, not sure of the tone of the question. “Yes.”

Jade Her attempt to change the subject hadn’t much worked as he started speaking of their marriage and relationship and what he thought he was meant for in this life.  She glanced over, finding the profile of his face as he spoke while watching the road on their way home.  Neither of them much spoke of the time she was away.  It wasn’t something either of them seemed to want to talk about.  But now, such a short time after their union was solidified in ink, she couldn’t be sure if she was leading him there or if he was leading her, though she had attempted to venture away from the subject entirely.  His one-word response to her question about the baby didn’t answer her question at all as it had been an or, with two potential answers, neither of which did yes fit.  It was only in this moment that she would wonder if she’d gotten him flustered about the woman he attempted to date in her absence.  The opportunity to ruin this day was still very much so alive there between them, as the subject continued to hang in the balance.  With a candy heart on her tongue, she bit against her lip, forcing the candy to dissolve entirely before she’d permit herself to speak.  Jade was an expert on silence, having spent years doing just that.  She could turn it off or on at will and here she would simply press pause.  There seemed to be some tension existing there between them, something that had been looming overhead ever since her cell phone rang before they made it to the car earlier.  She thought to ask him if they could please not do this, but even that would add to the tension.  So instead, for the sake of this man and what this day was meant to be, she pushed aside the ideas of anything traditional to instead ask him a question he had yet to hear from her since she returned.  “So tell me what it looked like?” she asked, the question alone stealing her breath as she took another candy from the box to press her nail into as she waited for him to give it to her straight.

Orion Feeling the tension shift as he wasn’t quite sure what was going on in that head of hers. He heard her question after the lengthy silence which he had quite resolved she was done speaking to him. He inhaled an even breath and shook his head. Silence of his own before he’d finally speak lightly. Not his usual tone of voice reminding the world that he was the son of a modern Shakespearean actor. “We’ll talk about it someother time.” he resolved as the apartment came into view before he ruined anything else by merely being honest which had once seemed like a good option. The best option. Yet, now he was seeing that sometimes keeping your head down was best and that was what he’d do here as he pulled into the apartment parking lot. His own candy long since broken up by his back teeth.

Jade As the apartment came into view, she wouldn’t notice it.  She was entirely too fixated on watching him, on waiting for that which he hinted at, at the thing that was going to make her understand and get it, as he had said.  When the silence ended and he finally offered to her that they’d do it another time, she looked to him with a look of disbelief.  She’d suppressed all versions of what the both of them went through during their time apart.  She’d thought it best not to see any of it, as long as they could both promise they had been true to the other.  She thought he thought it best as well.  But now, after he’d pointed to that she needed to know certain things to understand and get that she was the only one for him, now she wanted to know.  Leaning her head back in the seat, she suddenly felt insanely uncomfortable in that dress, shifting to the side in an attempt to find some position that it didn’t bunch at the small of her back.  “Please don’t put it on hold, O.  It’s going to bother me on hold more than it would if you’d just tell me what it is.”  There was a damned good chance that their wedding day was already botched given the tension that had risen up between them and try as she may to bring them around to something else, she’d failed to do so.  So now they were stuck there, having to face it, or he’d shut down, but either way she was quickly losing hope for the night she’d imagined, only able to figure it went somewhere along with their trip as well.

Orion “It’s going to bother you regardless.” he confessed as he wasn’t quite sure who was to blame that evening for the perpetual fuck ups yet they were not this couple. They never had been. This was odd for him at best and now he had to take a diplomatic approach to get him out of the red. Regardless, they’d be fucked. His attempt to be honest with her and sincere had gotten them this far. By then, he had already fucked it up and he was doing his best not to close down to her yet he had done his best not to close down minutes before and look where it had gotten them. Pulling into his usual parking spot where he’d kill the engine, collecting the keys from the ignition before he glanced over towards her.

Jade As the car came to a stop and the engine went silent, she met his eyes there as he confessed it would bother her either way.  This much she had already gathered, though it would be a matter of if it would bother her more or less than the unknown now that he had brought it to her attention again in the manner that he had.  They may not have been that traditional couple with traditional hopes and dreams between them, but given what they had just done, there was that part of her that longed for the tradition of it all far more than she could confess to him.  It was there that she’d be posed with a choice; to press on with this matter or attempt to leave it in the car and behind them temporarily.  It had to come back to what the two had originally agreed upon.  As long as they had remained true to one another, that time period didn’t matter. It was over and done with and they were on to something better and new between them.  Refusing to start out their marriage here, she’d suppress her own feelings if it meant some attempt at salvaging this night.  “Orion,” she whispered, a tone there that he might recognize as her backing down.  “Im sick.”

Orion With both of them attempting to repress their feelings, there was nothing to be done here under that guise. He had agreed to leave it in the past and so he would though it would contradict his promises to always be honest with her. Choosing one promise over the other as he’d do literally anything to make her happy as it was being tested now but he was running out of options. It seemed anyway he looked, he was upsetting her in one way or another. As she spoke his name, he glanced over towards her in time for her returning his sentiment. His hand finding the back of her head rest, free hand unbuckling his seat belt so he could easily lean over. Meeting his lips with hers without any hesitation.

Jade She’d make no attempt to move as she made her request, allowing him to put forth all of the effort there to meet her lips with his.  It wasn’t customary for her to do so, but she’d do it here for she needed him to forget the rest.  She needed to forget the rest.  Though she knew it wouldn’t be far from the surface for either of them, she could pile things on top of it to make it disappear if only for a few days or hours.  He had attempted to put it away, but it had been too loud for her.  Now, she’d use this kiss to silence her own mind as when he kissed her, she simply couldn’t think.  As his lips took to hers, it was then that she’d bring her hand to the side of his neck, tilting her head slightly to the side to deepen the exchange between the two as she made no secret of what she was doing here.  Outside of that building had seen too much in the last few days from his suspension to the earlier phone call.  Tonight, she wanted to give it something better.  Something worthy of starting a marriage upon.  The private woman would put her need for privacy away as she allowed her tongue to trace the part of his lips, making her needs known to him in that moment as she tightened her hand there against his neck.

Orion Happy to have the distraction though maybe once he’d criticize himself for not facing the problem upright. Yet, this wasn’t a problem he could easily solve. He’d have to drag her through the mud for it and he refused. Her feelings were now screaming louder than his own and he could not, would not, continue the suffering. Feeling her press her lips back to his before her tongue made its presence known, he parted his own lips to allow the push of her tongue. Glad to have something else to focus on and to get lost on this like so many in this life did. While they had never been those people, it would certainly be worth the try.

Jade As his lips parted at her request, her tongue slowly eased there within the confines of his mouth, smoothing over his own as her hand passed to the back of his neck.  Little by little, the rest would fall by the wayside and lose its importance, at least for the time being.  They were the core of their relationship; not whatever circumstances had taken them both for a dark ride during her absence.  It would still be there by morning light, yet their first moments as a married couple would not.  It was a matter of importance and in that moment, as well as most every one after that, he would win out.  The restrictions and limitations the car would offer were of little concern to the woman as she set to only light the flame between them.  Withdrawing her tongue slowly as though she’d seal the kiss, she’d return to him just as she had been, creating the distraction as she demanded his fullest attention even there within the kiss while both arms were now drawing around his neck.

Orion Feeling the draw of her tongue and expecting her to ask for a change of scenery yet he was pleasingly wrong as he felt her return to his lips. Her arms around his neck. His own hands hungry for a feel of her yet unable to really get one in that moment regardless of how much he wanted it. Inhaling softly. Hand tightening to the back of that head rest in response and not sure whether she’d even notice it by this point as he was equally taken with her kiss.

Jade In the moment that she believed he might just be taken by her, it was then that she would slowly withdraw, following the depth of the previous kiss with a softer pass of her lips to his that might rest against him as more familiar than the prior.  Meeting his eyes, she’d draw a slow breath while still able to feel the pressure of his lips against her own.  Bringing her arms slowly to part from behind his neck, her fingertips would linger against the sides of his neck for a moment before they would slip free altogether.  One hand moving to the seat belt buckle to unhook it, serving as a silent communication that she was ready to get out of the car as soon as he was.

Orion Watching her draw back, his eyes opening a moment later to see her unbuckling her seatbelt. Knowing what that meant  as he gave her a slow nod. Already off of his own as he reached out to pull open his door. Stepping out a moment later where he’d wait for her at the back of the car. A waiting and diligent hand as the two had exchanged enough words that day. Both positive and negative, now it was time to find a form of different communication which the two already seemed to be dabbling with.

Jade As he made the first move to exit the vehicle, she’d do the same a minute later.  Rising from the vehicle, she’d shut the door, turning to find him standing there at the back of the car waiting for her.  She’d seen him in a dress shirt a million times, but there was just something about him there at the back of the car in that very moment that she had to just stand still for a moment.  Taking him in visually, she’d steal that glimpse of him without his knowledge before finally making her way to the back of the car.  “So handsome,” she whispered as she came before him, both hands finding his sides as she stepped into him as though they were upstairs in their bedroom.  Her eyes said it all as she looked up at him, hazel hues speaking for her as her hands tightened in the fabric of his shirt.  

Orion "Oh?" Not quite expecting that statement, watching her approach as he found her sides. Feeling her against him as he met her eyes. Knowing that look as he felt her to the front of his shirt. How he'd get her to that sparkle in her eyes, he'd never know but he loved it all the same. Leaning in where his lips would reseal to hers briefly. Speaking to her lips. "Tell me what you are thinking..."

Jade “Mhm,” she offered in response to his surprise as it was absolutely true.  She’d let herself get so focused on other things that she couldn’t even appreciate what was right in front of her.  Though she knew there was no such thing as making anything up to anyone, she’d at least put her best foot forward here to see what was there.  As his lips took to her own, his request fell against her lips.  “I’m thinking,” she began, though never quite taking her lips free of his, “that you are my very handsome husband, and I am your very lucky wife.”  Speaking her thoughts to him as they were in that very moment as she stripped everything else away and once again found him.  “I’m thinking there are still a few hours left in this day of ours and they shouldn’t be lost in talking about things we can’t change, but instead…” she suggested, her kiss growing more intense with each passing break.  “Instead, maybe you take me upstairs and help me out of this dress.”

Orion “I don’t know about ‘lucky.’ Burdened, maybe. Taxed…Laden…” he offered, feeling her return to his kiss and tapping into something deeper. A light smile leaving him at the suggestion as his comfort with her had allowed him to push past the awkward uncomfortableness of his character and well into the base of who he was. “I think you’re right…” he continued, as they had narrowly avoided implosion. “and I think I’d love to.”

Jade Suppression.  It was truly an art form with this woman and she’d use it here with him as well.  She’d push it so deep that she couldn’t be bothered with it any longer, not until her eyes were closed and the thoughts would flood her again.  But for now, she was exhibiting great skill before him as she met his eyes at his agreement to take her upstairs.  “Lucky,” she reminded him, as his terms simply had no room in this one.  As different as he’d been, spending his life without the idea of marriage and such things, she’d dubbed her own life to be professional and nothing more as she couldn’t bear the idea of someone touching her.  Failed attempts would even take the idea that she and Orion would never get there, but somehow, through his patience, they were both standing there before one another, husband and wife, doing things neither of them ever believed possible.  Stealing his lips once again, her hands releasing the hold on his shirt, she let her hands pass down his arms to find his hands, linking her fingers there through his as she took a step back, bringing him along with her.  There were too many stairs to come to maintain this, but at least for the moment, she’d remain connected to him in this manner until she was sure he would stop her as their safety would come into play.

Orion While he was not dumb enough by any means to think that what had been said or done would go away, he knew it would return. He knew how she was. He knew her better than maybe even she knew herself as each facial expression, each statement was logged away. Pressing his lips back to hers as he felt her down his arms and over his hands. Securing his digits at hers as he allowed her back. Eyes opening to allow her to navigate yet knowing it would only be allowed for so long as they worked their way slowly back in that direction.

Jade Her hands were firmly within his, where the slightest tensing of his hand would cease her from taking another step back.  Knowing just how many steps it was to the front steps of the building, she could maintain the kiss rather effortlessly until she felt the step at the back of her foot.  Pausing there, she took the step up, releasing one of his hands as her height evened out a bit with his.  Bringing her hand there to the side of his face, determined to keep the intimacy flowing between them however she could until they made it within the building, up a stair case, and within their apartment where Crash would be quite disappointed to be locked out of the bedroom for a while.  A soft hum of her lips there against his as she took the next step.  Managing to find their way to the landing before the door of the building.

Orion Feeling her height even out, he had to smirk slightly. A joke on his mind that would not pass his lips though it was well past predictable by this point. Feeling her to his face and her hum as she took to the next step where he’d join her. Lips leaving hers for the completely necessary task of getting that door open and helping her within though his free hand remained to her back. Retaining that contact and only hoping no one was there to intercept then as he doubted the two could stop even if they wanted to.

Jade The dissolution of that kiss was met with disappointment, though laced with understanding as she knew it had been coming but it would forever leave the woman with a sense of incompletion.  With his hand to her back, she was guided through the door, finding the stairway that would lead to their floor just a few feet ahead.  It would be easy to turn into that kiss again, yet she’d mourn its end should the concern for safety up the full case of stairs outweigh the benefit of intimacy.  Instead, she’d take the stairs, allowing his hand to suffice in the in between.  Five steps up, logic lost its battle as she turned abruptly to find his lips again in that turn, not ever truly pausing to instigate the brush of her lips to his.  No longer would she hold his hand, nor would she reach for the banister.  It had already been gone for too long, her lips cooling.  He’d created this within the woman, of that she was sure.  Both of her arms swept around his neck, keeping the two close as she maintained a one step difference that would allow him not to lean into her, but to meet her there together, in a platform she’d enjoy a little too much.  One step at a time, she’d ascend with him, unable to care less if they were to find a neighbor in that stairwell.  In just a few weeks’ time, the woman had become so physically charged, there was simply no going back for her.  She wanted him.  She wanted the closeness.  She wanted within that apartment that still seemed so far away.

Orion As she took back to him, feeling her against his neck as his hands found her sides and they returned to that place they had been previously. Keeping his eyes open to assure she got up as safely as possible but his own will power was thinning rapidly. He had never quite felt desired. Though some women had attempted to show him that he was, it was usually well before they got to know him. That information changed the game entirely. Yet, this woman here really wanted him in this moment. Feeling like she could have wanted him nearly as much as he hungered for her which was a unique moment all in its own. Inhaling deeply as they reached the top of those steps and down the hall getting closer and closer.

Jade As his hands found her sides, she was pleasantly surprised that he wouldn’t attempt to stop her from taking such a risk here.  His hand on her back had been close, but not nearly close enough.  As their feet found the top of the staircase, turning off for access to their floor, their height difference would again show itself here.  Her arms would only tighten, allowing no opportunity for the man to pull free of her without her assistance on the matter.  Trusting him was easy.  She’d trusted him from the very beginning, though if someone asked her, there had been no beginning.  Perhaps it was when she was a little girl, fleeing her apartment on the command of her adoptive mother.  She thought it to be the only place a beginning could be established for it was from that moment on that this man was in her life.  It was not long after that he would become the only person she could imagine being close to.  Though it took years to get where they were now, where the promise of more was almost a guarantee, it was the greatest journey in hindsight as there would never be any doubts for how much the two loved one another and just how great their trust here was.  With the apartment door just shy of a foot away, she couldn’t break her kiss of his.  Instead, she’d bring a single hand down from behind his neck, searching for those keys in his hand.  Gently stealing them away, she’d attempt to figure which key was which, bringing them each one to the handle behind her as her tongue traced the part of his lips.  Clearly more focused on that kiss than she was to get into the apartment.

Orion As she took to the keys, he was equally focused on her. Parting his lips for her as his tongue grazed out over hers. Hands finding her sides where he was guiding her to that door. A prompt push of his hands where she'd meet the door with a gentle thump. A slight smile to his lips as such acts of aggressiveness were typically lost on him yet not this time around. Humming low to her lips as he allowed her to still work with those keys.

Jade As her back met their door, she didn’t quite know what to make of it, though something surged within her, responding positively to that which he’d done.  As his tongue smoothed over her own, his familiar taste flooded through her.  The act hadn’t been like him, yet there was a certain amount of trust therein.  He wouldn’t hurt her, not ever, and so he could do most anything now and she’d not fear him.  Her hand to the back of his neck tightened at the movement, encouraging this from him should he want to.  Her other hand still working with the keys, not very well, until finally she got one key in the right place, turning the lock.  Pulling the key free, she brought it to the pocket of Orion’s dress pants, discarding them into his pocket as her arm swept back around his neck.  The door was unlocked, should he want to go in, yet the position against that door was all too enticing for her to break free of it of her own free will.

Orion Feeling her manage that door and tuck his keys back, he was guiding her towards him from the door as to not lean against it. One hand breaking free to reach for the knob as his lips slowly moved from hers to get that door open and not let the dog out. Opening the door where he'd let her in, eyes finding the sight of the dog running excitedly towards them as they managed in the apartment where he was closing the door and locking it behind them. The voyage had been successful.

Jade The only part to this plan that wasn’t quite working out right was Crash.  As Jade entered the apartment, Crash ran towards them, stopping a foot short, though the wagging of his tail spoke to his level of excitement.  He’d stand there, waiting, knowing that any moment either Jade or Orion would welcome him.  Jade knew he’d hold this position indefinitely if they wanted him to, his newest bit of training, but she just couldn’t do it.  An apologetic glance was directed to Orion.  Breathless from that kiss, she’d lower herself to her knees there in her dress, one hand giving the signal for the dog to come greet her fully.  She’d give him the attention that Orion had gotten from her a moment before by means of her hands in his coat just behind his ears as she avoided the kisses that were coming her way.  “Okay, okay,” she pleaded, words that Crash seemed to be a bit selective on.  “That’s good.  All done.”  As though the dog knew that the two would be disappearing off into the bedroom where he was not invited, he wasn’t letting up on her, regardless of the commands given.  Jade laughed, knowing she shouldn’t, but the part of her that had never before had a dog and truly enjoyed the actual companionship of the boy before her, would fall to it every time.  She couldn’t be strict on him, though she knew she was supposed to, potentially a telling sign of what she might be as a parent as well.

Orion The dog was entirely too cute to resist as he allowed her to have it as he reached out and pet his back. Running his fingers through his thick coat as the two bathed him in a bit of affection before they’d be off or so they thought. Hearing her laugh though, he smirked softly at Crash wanted her attention something horrible at the moment. “Want me to leave you two alone?” he asked playfully, giving Crash another soft pat before he was slipping off down the hall. Letting her have her time here as she’d know where to find him.

Jade “No!” she managed quickly after hearing him ask if they wanted time alone there.  The next moment, her view would be that of his back, walking down the hallway away from them.  “Orion!” she complained loudly, her laugh interrupting her.  “Don’t leave me here!”  Each phrase interrupted by another bout of laughter as Crash attempted to get a kiss in there that she was narrowly avoiding at every turn.  Finally, she’d find her feet again, rising to her height at which the dog would obey as her putting space there.  He’d take a step back, looking up at her as he waited for her to bend down again as his training promised she would.  “Later, buddy,” she seemed to promise, giving a single brush of her fingers against the top of his head as she walked down that hall with Crash there at her heels.  Turning around, she shook her head, giving a soft shake of her fist as she signaled him to stay behind.  The dog whined as he obeyed, allowing Jade to walk to the bedroom, closing the door behind her, to find her husband who abandoned her previously.

Orion Hearing her laughter let him go through with it that much more. Literally, leaving her there as she was attacked with dog kisses as he had hit the bedroom by then. Slipping within where he was pulling off his shoes as he heard her slipping into the room. Smirking lightly as he took a seat to the edge of the bed. “I didn’t want to interrupt a moment.” the man teased as he reached up to begin to unbutton his shirt as his eyes followed hers. Teeth at his bottom lip as he had maybe never seen her more beautiful in that moment.

Jade As the door closed behind her, there was another disgruntled whine from outside of the door.  Watching as he sat down on the edge of the bed, his own hands there to the buttons of his shirt, she offered a soft shaking of her head as though it were to his statement, but in fact was to the statement and the action.  Crossing the space, she stood before him, standing between his knees as her hands guided his away to allow her this space.  “I’d much rather have this moment,” she confessed as she unbuttoned the next button in line, stealing his lips in a soft kiss where she’d spotted that bite of his lip, drawing back only to meet his eyes before she was right back there again.

Orion Feeling her guide back his hand and get started. Thinking he had given her a headstart though he hadn't gotten far as he pressed his lips back to hers briefly. "You're beautiful." He stated in that space before she returned, his own hands reaching to detect the zipper of her dress as he was luring it down to free her of those restraints. Unable to hold back or help himself from that statement as she was a sight for sore eyes to the man who had missed her entirely too much and felt he was still making up for lost time.

Jade Though she’d never believe his words from anyone else, she’d never doubt them from him, only able to think he saw her differently than the rest of the world did, knowing she saw him differently in that same capacity.  A soft sigh met his lips from her just beyond that sentiment as it was only from him that she would feel such words radiate deep within her as though they were spoken from his lips to her heart where she’d hold onto the sound of his voice as such things were spoken for the rest of her life.  One button at a time as she felt the zipper of her dress drawing down.  Slipping her arms through the slender straps that held it up, she’d let him guide it down as she stood before him in a white strapless bra and matching panties.  Finding that last button of his shirt, she guided the fabric free of his flesh, exposing him to her touch as her fingertips were there at his lower back, ghosting up his skin as her lips departed his in exchange for the curve of his neck.

Orion As he sat before her, he watched as he guided down her dress entirely as she pushed off his shirt. Feeling her at his neck as his hands were helping themselves to the range of her bare sides. Palms molding over her. Feeling her truly and down to her hips where the fabric of her panties sat. Hands passed back up. For a man who didn't like to be touched, this experience was one that was nothing short of mind blowing for him. She was red hot under his hands and he faced no need to run off. To separate himself. This was all easy with her as his own lips found her collarbone.

Jade Constantly he’d find her to be easily distracted as would be true here as well.  The feel of his hands against her flesh, his lips to her skin, knowing where it would lead now was still unfamiliar to her.  She’d still pause when she felt this touch from him, a sigh against the curve of his neck as she found it hard to continue every time he engaged her, yet she wouldn’t change it for the world.  With her dress pooled there at her feet, she’d step out of her dress, shifting the fabric off to the side as she brought one hand to her right ankle, attempting to unbuckle her shoe without parting from him entirely.  

Orion Stabilizing her as she went for her shoe, hands at her hips regardless as they went. Lips passing over her throat as he took advantage of her mission in that moment. Lips roaming over skin as his hands took a tight grip that he had aspired to do a million times over yet never daring in fear of the idea of disrespect yet here? He was free. They both were as to be with one another. A place that only existed between the borders of their joint flesh. Humming low as his lips passed over her chest. Liking this new strapless get up for it allowed him great amounts of access.

Jade Her fingertips found the buckle of her shoes just as his lips came to pass over the swell of her breast.  Pausing all further progress, again, as her head would become clouded and she couldn’t think past that moment.  The firm grip of his hands against her was noticed, and furthermore welcomed as she leaned into him at the grasp, a reaction he might find a firmer grip would draw out in the woman.  Forgetting the shoes entirely with one buckle nearly undone, she stood straight there before him as she leaned her head back slightly while her hand found the back of his head.  Fingertips separating short strands of hair as she mimicked his tighter hold, doing the same there to the back of his head.  “I can’t think when you do this,” she whispered, not at all a complaint, yet a compliment if anything.  The woman whose mind could not be turned off was officially off and he’d put to rest anything from previously for the time being, suppressed deeper than she could have accomplished on her own, all from a slight shift in his demeanor here.  Biting against her lower lip, she drew one knee to the edge of the bed, then the other, straddling over him while her shoes remained there against her feet.

Orion "Let me." He added decisively as she shifted over him, reaching down to his sides where he unclasped her shoes with a kind of easy. Guiding them free. Doing the hard work in an easy swoop. Lips still drifting her skin as they placed once her shoes were off. Hands slipping up her calves to her knees and outer thighs as his lips swept back to melt to hers.

Jade While his hands busied at her ankles, unfastening her shoes, the bite to her lip only grew as he managed those buckles while never letting his lips part from her skin.  Her hand tightened at the back of his neck, her head leaned slightly back as she straddled there over him in the white strapless bra and matching panties, attempting to give him something a little more traditional than the last few weeks had been at least.  “Thank you,” she managed, lowering her head in time to capture his lips there against her own, still in shock that they were in fact husband and wife now, bonded, along with the additional news of the baby who had surprised the both of them.  Feeling the path of his hands against her, she drew her own hands down from the back of his neck to lace her fingers there over his.  A soft hum of her lips as she drew in closer, pressing her hips there to his, even through fabric, in a desire to get closer that now held no fear or promise of failure to her.

Orion Never having quite seen a strapless bra before let alone one so close to him. Not quite sure how to remove it either as his eyes inspected the device. Finding his fingers to the back to the normal place where he located a set of clasps. Denying her the mental process. Gently rocking his hips from under her. Maybe not even sure that he was doing it as a mere need for relief as his lips swept up to her ear. The warmth of his breath there against her.

Jade Feeling his hands there to the back of her bra, her own slipped free of his a moment before.  Bringing her hands to his upper arms, letting her fingertips ghost against his bare flesh before she was shifting her hips back to create a space there between them to allow her to unfasten his pants.  The warmth of his breath against her ear stealing her ability to think, leaving her to fumble with the button of his pants as she drew her lower lip between her teeth.  Her senses seeming to be altered here, on a heightened level she couldn’t explain, feeling completely tied to this man in all of the best ways.  The whines of a puppy on the other side of the door settled down as the dog gave up, laying against the door with a thud, protecting his parents there within.  

Orion Feeling her fumbling with his pants, he could only smile lightly. Grateful that he wasn't the only one who did it and struggled. Hands passing up over her ass as his fingertips found her panties. Hearing the whine of Crash which might have normally concerned them yet he was too taken with her. Teeth snagging the shell of her ear as he gave her a still moment to pull off the clasp while he guided down the waistband of her panties the best he could. Winning this unspoken competition.

Jade As his hands found her ass, she was drawing her knees from the bed there, perhaps for the best as the contact was clouding her head in ways she couldn’t see through.  Taking a half step back from him there, remaining within his hold, yet giving herself a moment for clarity.  She finally unclasped his pants, her forehead finding his bare shoulder as she unzipped the zipper, giving him space there to fully lower the fabric of her panties to the floor.  He had her bare before she had him there, yet she’d need him to stand to be able to complete her own mission here.  “Stand up,” she whispered at his shoulder, nipping gently against his flesh as she stood barefooted before him, asking him to take his full height there so that she might guide him free of his own clothes, all while maintaining a bit of space there to allow her to even think straight.

Orion Feeling her at his jeans before she'd stand and state her command. Understanding the need for it as his feet found the floor. Standing there over her as his hands found her sides. "Believe you were looking for 'please, stand.'" The man teased though hardly upset with the way things had gone here as he worked her panties further down her legs until she could draw them down all together. Waiting until his boxers and jeans could be found doing the same.

Jade “I’m sorry,” she instantly offered to his teasing, drawing the fabric of his pants over his hips, letting gravity steal them from her before those same hands were at the sides of his boxers to do the same.  Feeling him guiding her panties down, she lifted each foot to step free of them independently, allowing the fabric to vacate her entirely.  Releasing her hold on the elastic of his boxers as her lips found his chest, pressing a kiss there as her hands found his bare sides.

Orion "I'll forgive you." He offered as if it was such a task to do when the woman stood there before him drawing off her panties. Unknowingly able to get whatever she wanted from him as he felt her at his chest. Pressing his lips to the top of her head as his hands worked down her shoulders and down her upper arms. Never finding a more beautiful woman inside and out then this. Patient, compassionate. Not knowing how wonderful he thought she was yet maybe one day she would.

Jade Feeling his kiss there to the top of her head, her hands tightened at his side as she slowly lured her head upwards, meeting his eyes as his hands traveled against her shoulders to her upper arms.  A slow slip of her lower tier through her teeth revealed a smile there to her lips.  Lifting one hand to the side of his face, closing that gap there between them as she lured his kiss to her lips.  On her tip toes, she pressed her lips to his, a soft pass before she was slowly turning the two around, the back of her thighs finding the edge of the bed where she’d draw one leg up at a time to find her knees against the surface of the bed, her free hand finding the back of his neck to silently insist he come with.

Orion "So beautiful." He insisted, watching her smile before his lips were back to hers. Watching as she made her movement back before his eyes would close. Leaning back against her as his hand found both sides of her legs. Assuring her legs didn't get pinned under her as he leaned forward. His own knees finding the bed to guide her back onto it as he leaned over her. Allowing his body to lower against hers as their bodies fit together perfectly.

Jade Making her way back a little at a time to allow him the room to do the same, she smiled there within the kiss at his compliment, never believing him, but always receiving it just the same.  Her fingertips tightening just beyond the words he offered, feeling him guiding her back over the bed.  Her back gently found the comforter as he came there over her, her curves meeting his flesh, forming against him as she drew one of her knees upwards, her inner thigh pressed to his side.  Slowly departing from his kiss, one small kiss at a time until there was none, her eyes finding his once again.  “If at all, it’s because of you,” she confessed, her thoughts on those words he spoke, believing entirely that any beauty that resided within her was of him and his influence over her life.  She’d always known she’d marry this boy, from the time she was a very little girl, yet now with it official, it felt as though it were the greatest surprise of her life.

Orion “I have nothing to do with your beauty.” he seemed to promise her as it was purely genetic and chemical. She had always been beautiful. Even as a child, she had the look of her of someone who would be a beautiful woman and that truly rooted in their teenage years. It was all chemical. Granted, she had a glow about her occasionally that made her all the more beautiful but the beauty was always there. Feeling their bodies meet and mesh to one another, his hand found the side of her face. “You’ve always been and you always will.”

Jade “You always know just what to say,” she offered, knowing it to be true.  A soft hand finding the side of his face, her fingertips barely grazing the structure there.  Lifting her kiss to press to his lips once more, the delicate path of her fingertips remaining.  Entirely focused in on him and the depth of her kiss, giving forth all of her attention and adoration to a man she’d always loved, even when she couldn’t physically show it.  Now, with a child within, proof of all they had overcome, things had come full circle for her.  From a woman who couldn’t bring herself to this place to being one half of the creative process that created a life, she felt for the first time in her life that she was actually complete.  As though this was all she had been meant for, having to walk a rocky path to get there, she held a full appreciation for the entire experience with him.  

Orion He never knew what to say. He just threw something out there and hoped it worked most times as he felt her to his face. Both focused on one another and everything the two had to offer to one another in that moment. There was a security knowing that she was the only woman he’d ever have to go here with. Both physically and emotionally. Even if it all fell down tomorrow, she was his only and she had to know that even if it was without her that he was resigned to spend the rest of his life alone if not with her. Not so long ago, he thought he would have.Thus, the irony of that supposed date when he had no other intentions for anyone else even before they had discovered this between them. Pressed to her inner thigh as the unmistakable showing of his lust for her. Pressing his lips back to hers as his head tilted to engage her entirely.

Jade Unable to deny the feeling of him there to her inner thigh, more focused there on the kiss to his lips than even to such a protrusion against her.  The very piece she’d once feared so greatly that would distract her from anything else was now nothing of fear for the woman.  Each slow pass of her lips against his spoke to where her attention resided.  Slowly both hands made their way to the curve of his shoulders, gripping against the back of his upper arms as she held to him, allowing a soft sweep of her tongue against the part of his lips before retracting back into the confines of her own mouth.  Slightly teasing, somewhat inviting, entirely enjoying the closeness there in those first hours as husband and wife.  She held no rush about her as she let her kiss softly ease off the corner of his mouth, a trail of kisses to his jawline as she made her way to the curve of his neck.  Exploring a man she knew entirely, taking her time there as though she had never.  After a lifetime of belonging nowhere and to no one, forever finding home in this man, she now felt as though that home was somehow more secured than it had ever been before, all because of a piece of paper that she thought wouldn’t amount to much of a change, yet had given something to her that she’d never fully realized she was lacking.

Orion Feeling her retreat from his lips and down his jawline, his fingers reaching up to brush through her hair as he allowed it. He had gotten his chance and he’d allow her even though he had a hard time believing his own body held the same allure as her own. The two had finally reached that stage. The stage they never thought achievable for the two. A state of near normalcy and while they would never be entirely normal, they were happy with what they had achieved. They’d have a family, they’d be a family. They’d make up the losses of their own life so rarely spoken about and start new with a fresh slate. Giving a child all the love the two had never received in the best way they knew how. Humming low at the feel and taste of her.

Jade The stroke of his fingers through her hair was just as soothing now as it had been years before.  At one time it stood as one of very few forms of intimacy and yet it seemed to now be an accent to the greatest form of intimacy between them.  Pressing a long kiss to the curve of his neck, she held the point of contact there as her hands tensed at the back of his arms.  Beneath him, she’d forever feel small, as though he had everything under control as always.  She trusted him, which the position alone spoke to.  A soft nip of her teeth there at his neck had a smirk to her lips as she showed just how bold she’d become in the last few weeks, slowly leaning her head back against the bed where her eyes were finding his.  One hand lifting, she brought her fingertip against his lower lip, tracing the lines there before her as her eyes followed this path before joining back to his again.  “I want to know what you want,” she whispered honestly, expecting him to spare no detail.  A quick press of her lips there to his and she was leaning back once more in wait of hearing exactly what it was that he wanted most right now because all she could think about was getting closer.

Orion Feeling her find his lip, pressing his lips back to hers before she was luring back and holding him to it. “I want you.” he stated simply. “All of you.” not sure what she wanted here. Details about what he wanted from her physically or emotionally. There was no specifics behind that question and thus he was lost in the possibilities of what she could be asking. “I want to be inside you. I want to feel your heartbeat from inside of you…” lips finding her collarbone as he pressed to the center of her chest. “I /need/ all of you.”

Jade The words he spoke against her flesh were more than enough in this regard to tell her just what he wanted, what he needed.  Feeling his kiss to her collarbone as his lips traveled lower, she brought one hand to the back of his head, fingertips passing through dark locks of hair.  A gentle massaging motion there of her fingertips as she hummed a quiet agreement to his request even as a physical reaction to those words took form between her thighs.  Letting her eyes fall closed, she bit at her lower lip, one nothing more than a way to control herself, yet now it stood for those times when she was so overcome by him that she couldn’t manage anything more than this natural bite that seemed to show itself more often than not.  “I’m /all/ yours,” she seemed to promise, as if he didn’t know, her own words not nearly holding the power his request had, yet the promise just as strongly offered as that of his desires.  It was the truth, now by law as much as in spirit, as now nothing and no one could see them apart.

Orion Hearing her hum in response, he had to smile softly. Sometimes he wondered what it would be like to deny her this touch. Her response. Would it still be calculated, would this be the end of it? A smile, a hum. Maybe one day he’d test it but today was not that day as he wanted her far too much for that at the moment and would merely be hurting himself as he reached down. Making good on that statement of hers as he reached to guide the head of himself into her where he knew she’d feel him.

Jade Feeling him guide the head of his cock there against her, she drew a sharp breath.  In all of the times they had been together, never had he gone straight here.  Wrongfully anticipating the man’s next move, she now drew one leg to wrap around his hip as her hand tightened at his upper arm.  The hand at the back of his head now used to lure herself up towards him, stealing his lips with her own by way of distraction as she wasted no moment in slipping her tongue through the part of his lips in search of his own.

Orion Feeling her reaction as she drew in a breath, he was instantly throttled with the realization that he had messed up. That he couldn’t do that. His hand dropped even as she pressed her leg to his hip. Lips pressed back to hers as his lips parted but stuck in limbo between pulling back all together and doing that even now as she locked him in despite it all. A race of anxiety surging through him as he was stuck at the midway point. Feeling his body tightening over her. His heart racing even as he seemed to manage to keep it all together outwardly.

Jade Feeling his hand move there, she knew he knew.  As his lips parted to her own, her tongue was quick to mesh against his, reuniting with a force from the small framed woman as her hand tightened to the back of his neck.  Lowering her other hand, she found his hand, letting her fingers graze over his until her hand found his wrist.  Guiding his hand back to where it had been, drawing her hips slightly upward as she encouraged him to do just as he was going to do; her own silent way of telling him she was alright.  Her tongue continually smoothing against his, the tilt of her head growing deeper if only to draw him into her further, her own fears being pushed down as far as she could for the sake of reassuring him that she knew it was alright.

Orion As she pushed at his wrist and even rose her hips, feeling the tilt of her head as he pressed his lips back to hers. Tongue smoothing over hers before he’d withdraw. A shake of his head. “It’s okay.” he assured as he didn’t need to be reassured or tip-toed around. Drawing his hips back, he pressed to his knees as he leaned up. Hands finding her sides as he leaned over. Pressing his lips just under her navel without much hesitation as now that could not be recovered. He was too damn anxious. Able to feel that shake in his hands at just her reaction alone as he wouldn’t mar their wedding night with the concept of pain or doing something too different for her. A hand drawing her leg over his shoulder.

Jade “O…” she was already saying that single letter the moment his lips parted from hers.  Watching as he found his knees there between her own, his hands to her sides, a kiss to her lower abdomen.  “O, you don’t have to,” she whispered, feeling his hand bringing her leg over his shoulder, looking down at him as she brought her hand to the side of his face.  “Just kiss me again,” she requested, having found more in that kiss than words could ever say.  Only able to scold herself silently for the breath she had taken, for the nervousness that had raced through her at the idea of discomfort here, knowing he’d always done all he could to keep such a feeling outside of this for her own benefit.  “Please,” she whispered, her eyes begging him to come back, to keep going, not to deviate from that which he’d wanted when she’d been the one that asked him in the first place.

Orion Hearing her request as she found the side of his face, eyes glancing back up towards her s he heard her please causing him to return his own. “Jade, please…” he stated honestly in return as he pressed his chin to her lower abdomen. “I’m not going to enjoy it anyway. I’d be too worried about hurting you.” he reminded her, as this gave him peace of mind. Especially now. Doubting either of them wanted that as it ensured a longer experience then either of them were prepared for as he attempted to get out of his own head.

Jade Feeling his chin there to her lower abdomen, she couldn’t help but think in that moment how close he was to the child within, even if said child was not even the size of a bean yet.  A smile stole her lips at the thought, completely inappropriately as there was no way for her to contain it.  Hearing his request, she nodded her head simply, giving in and knowing full well that he was right, only needing to be sure that he would enjoy any of this now and not feel as though she’d forced him anywhere along the way.  Instead of pushing the issue, he’d find her smile and that nod of her head, trusting him endlessly as he had yet to steer them wrong.  She was entirely reliant on him ever since her return from New York and it wouldn’t be changing any time soon.  Her center had been shaken and when all of the pieces fell into place again, they were all there at his feet, with his hands to put them back together.  He was her glue in every situation as he would be here, forever allowing herself to simply follow his lead.

Orion Thankful that she’d just let him do what he needed to here despite that smoke which he did not quite know how to place. He was comforted as now he could do what they needed to do. Marking it as it would become ritualistic to him as his lips traveled further down. Taking advantage of her leg over his shoulder as his tongue would part his lips and greet her. Taking a slow lap of her before his mouth would surround her clit. Tongue rotating slowly over her in pressurized circles.

Jade There was a fleeting moment where she wasn’t sure. Where she feared he didn’t actually want to be there between her thighs in this manner.  There was a moment where she thought to stop him just as his head leaned down between her thighs, losing her grip with her prior thought process.  But then it would take one sweep of his tongue against her to silence her entirely.  By the time his mouth surrounded her clit, her hips were lifting slightly into him, welcoming the touch as her eyes closed.  A sharp draw of her breath would speak differently here as she felt the tension that had been throughout her body at the idea of him entering her a moment before completely fading from her just beneath that touch.

Orion The man would never be too opposed to this task as he was hardly obligated. Tongue drawing over her clit again and again as he heard the draw of her breath. Glancing up towards her as his hands passed up her sides. Drawing his tongue back down from her clit to sweep over her entrance. Hand slipping down to grip at the side of her thigh as his tongue prodded within her. Tasting her arousal at its core as he felt the heat of his own lust sweeping over him. Retained and swept under as he would need it to be to complete the task as he took to her entirely.

Jade If he had held back here in any way, she would have known it.  She knew him in this venue all too well and in a moment’s time, she was sure of his dedication as well as willingness to be there.  Feeling his tongue against her clit, prompting the short lifts of her hips to the feeling there, he’d find a full gasp to her lips as he slipped his tongue past her entrance.  Biting hard against her lower lip, a soft whine seeping through, her hand found the back of his head as his hand passed over her thigh.  It was here that her own impatience would take hold, her hand tightening there in his hair as she drew his head back from her.  A look in her eyes that he’d certainly recognize, desperation stealing her tone of voice.  “I want you, all of you, inside of me.  I /need/ you,” she repeated his own words back to him, yet in her own way, the sentiment remained the same.  

Orion Feeling her pull his head back as it was the only way she’d get him to do so in that moment unless it was physically. Meeting her eyes as she spoke. Was it appeasement? After only a moment of this where he usually got her to the extra mile. Not even noticing that they were his words as that moment seemed like a lifetime ago by now. “Fine…but any discomfort and…” remarking that he would be back there if even a moment of something worse than usual passed her expression. They would meet in that same place as he dragged her thigh from his shoulder with a press of his lips to the rigid muscle as he fought the grip of her hand.

Jade Too overcome with desire to imagine the possibility of anything discomforting following, she gave up a quick nod of her head, easily agreeing to most anything he should have suggested there as she wanted nothing more than him inside her in that very moment.  Feeling his pull against her hand, she released her hold on him as his hand guided her leg back to his side.  Both of her hands quickly finding the back of his arms, drawing herself up to steal his lips without a moments pause.  Sitting up before him as her eagerness was stronger than even she realized, fusing her lips to his once more as her hand was finding his hardened cock, stroking against him as she lured him back over her once again.

Orion Pressing his lips back to hers as she lured up to meet his lips, feeling her find his cock which had a strong breath out of him. Feeling her luring him back to her and not quite sure he had felt her taken initiative in such a way as he drew his hips forward. Allowing his cock to part her where he had assured she was ready for him. Maybe not for as long as he normally would but passing within her bit by bit as he relied on her excitement and honesty to assure that this went well as they worked this out far better than most would at this challenge.

Jade Her kiss couldn’t contain the feeling of being consumed by him, causing a strong gasp there at his lips as she felt him entering her inch by inch.  In time, she’d found this to be the place she felt most complete, perhaps even taking a woman who was afraid of it and turning her into a borderline addict as she’d take him time and time again some days without the ability to withhold herself from him.  Turning from his kiss, her face found the curve of his neck, not attempting to mask anything, yet only drawing in closer to him than even that kiss would allow.  Both arms drawing tight around his neck as her hips shifted up to meet his, encouraging him to fill her entirely as heated breaths fell against the curve of his neck.  Pressing a kiss just below his ear before she was burying her face there against him again, her leg drawn over his hip as she tensed beneath him, soft whines there at her lips as her fingertips pressed firmly against him.

Orion Feeling her draw and bury into him might have been taken the wrong way by someone else yet he knew this to be what she did in these moments. Opening herself both physically and emotionally to him even as she seemed shut off. Yet, he knew better. Feeling her against his hip and the sound of her hip as his lips found her shoulder and collarbone. A strong exhale suggesting he was feeling it just the same as he felt the heat of her breath. Pressed deep within her as he gave her a moment to grow used to him though she hardly seemed like she needed it.

Jade The tight bearings of her walls wrapped around him, slowly giving way to the man little by little as she rode out the adjustment there in the confines of his neck.  Feeling his kiss to her flesh, forever easing the process as it shifted her focus.  One hand slipped back into the back of his head where she’d grasp at the strands of his thick hair, having seemed to recently discover the power that came from gripping at him here.  Feeling his heated breath there against her own shoulder, she’d offer that first shift of her hips around his even as her walls refused to budge, her teeth finding his shoulder as she nipped softly against his flesh.  The intense pressure within her sending her racing forward here as she wanted all of it, all of him.  Slowly she made her way out of the hide of his neck, drawing back to meet his eyes where he’d find the truth there within.  Complete love and adoration radiated through hazel eyes as she introduced yet another shift of her hips against his from beneath him.

Orion Feeling her revisit his hair, she’d see how quickly and easy it was to control him there. Feeling her shift against him as her own teeth were at his shoulder before she’d pull from his neck much quicker than he had come to expect. Meeting her eyes as she did it once more and attempting to push any ounce of doubt from his mind which he would allow even if he saw it. “Still not too late to annul.” he teased dryly of her seemingly out of no where as he flashed her a quick smirk as he definitely wasn’t but she still stood a chance as he stole a kiss of her lips before he was guiding his own hips against her.

Jade “Not a chance,” she quickly returned as his lips found her own.  Her hand remaining there to the back of his head, fingers twisted in his hair as her kiss meshed into his flawlessly.  Feeling the shift of his hips, prompting a heavy sigh within the confines of the kiss as he finally gave in to that which he had initially asked for and she had done the same.  Maintaining her lips there at his, her own hips drawing to meet his as she shifted her own slightly, guiding him off to the side of her as her own body maneuvered there with him to her own side.  Allowing the pressure to come off of him as they both could lie against the bed this way, her leg drawing higher up over his hip there as her hand found the side of his face.  A soft touch as her lips made each slow pass over his.

Orion Quite happy at her response as she wasn’t going anywhere though he failed to mention that part, he felt the shift of her own hips before she was pushing to her side and thus his own. Managing to stay within her as if they had great experience in this as his hand passed her back. Feeling the shift of her own hips taking control as his lips pressed back to hers, that hand gradually slipping down over her ass as he’d let her show him exactly what she wanted here in the hunt to entirely satisfy her.

Jade Lacking experience hadn’t stopped them thus far in their sexual endeavors, nor would it bind them here.  Each time had been just in search of how different positions felt, this one being no different as she felt the shift of that angle allowing a different type of stimulation within her.  Using her leg hooked there over his hip, she drew her own hips into him, meeting his shift time and time again as she felt that hand of his to her ass.  Drawing back from his lips if only to meet his eyes, attempting to be sure that the transition was as satisfying to him as it was to her, somehow feeling closer to him as her hand softly cradled the side of his face.  “I so love you,” she whispered breathlessly, knowing any one of the challenges they had faced that day might not have rendered them where they were in that moment, yet they had come through each and every one, together.

Orion Meeting her eyes as he got handsy though she had never much cared before considering, his eyes met hers as she pulled back. “And I love you.” he returned with ease as nothing would ever be quite so natural or thoughtless as his love for her. Having had quite the eventful day/evening for the two yet they had battled through and that was all that counted. “More than Mozart and Shakespeare combined…” knowing that was quite high praise for him in his attempt to be romantic yet somehow endearing. He smiled softly to her lips before again helping himself.

Jade His profession of love for her drew a full smile to her lips as it was delivered in a way only he could pull off and still manage to keep the tone to their union, feeling his hands engaging there at her ass, only driving her to pull into him more forcibly.  The position easily requiring both of them to work for it, yet they seemed to do so as though they’d been in it before, only able to believe it was due to the chemistry between the two and the joint willingness to continue trying.  Her comfort level with the man could not be any higher than it was in that moment, always growing steadily, yet she couldn’t see how it could get any higher than it was right then and there.  Not needing him to tell her or show her any more than he already did day in and day out as their union here was nothing more than a full body expression of a very inward feeling between the both of them.  Stealing his lips once more, as the position allowed easily, before her lips were venturing to that curve of his neck.  Feeling the tension rising within her as her hips came forward to his, heated breaths falling against his skin as she held as tightly to him as he did to her.

Orion Guiding his hips forward as she did the same to assure that he got every last inch of what was hers just as easily, gripped firmly at her ass as he continued this pace. Meeting her halfway each time as his grip of her provided any necessary leverage showing her that he would help her on her end meet him. Feeling her at his neck as his free arm took to the curve of her hip. Winding around her as he pulled her even closer in. Very little separating her from being ontop of him in the first place except his exertion in that position to his side.

Jade Her lips parted as his name threatened her, choked back as she felt the grip of his hold drawing her into him just as firmly as she thought herself drawing in on her own.  Finding herself to quite like the man’s hold on her, both secure and helpful, yet at the same time passionate.  He was, without a doubt, the perfect balance to her, as she’d find here time and time again.  Soft whines fell from her lips there against his neck as she felt herself coming closer and closer, her release building within her with every passing second.  Another slight shift and she’d see the man to his back, finding herself there over top of him though not entirely sure how she’d even made such a thing happen.  Luring herself upwards, her hand finding his chest as she felt him deep within her core from the position alone.  Her lips were parted as she let her hips take that grinding motion against him sending her closer and closer to the release as her body literally demanded that it be allowed such ecstasy.  Careless nails found the man’s flesh as her entire body tensed over him, her thighs trembling in time with her taut stomach; a place that would not be so in just a short time.  Finally his name demanded passage against her lips as the tension within her mounted, not allowing the shift of her hips to stall as her mouth opened fully, her head leaning back, the tight inner walls around him drawing in completely before all at once pulsing around him to coat him over with her release as a full whine flooded the silence that had been around them.

Orion Letting her get him onto her back as she took onto him, knowing that it was through her discovery of herself that he’d find out exactly how to stimulate her and work for her best. Learning together until no time at all, they’d both be well-versed experts in the other. There was something beautiful about that as the two would solely work for one another in this respect. His hands finding both of her shifting hips as he watched her. Never quite able to get over how well this took her over yet knowing he would never grow tired of it either as his name leaked her lips. The tightness of her flushing walls caused his teeth to take to his bottom lip. His hand sweeping up her sides before over her stomach as he felt the tension taking her over.

Jade The feel of his hands there at her hips would maintain the shift against him even when she wanted to give in entirely to that release and fall still.  Her heart raced throughout her body as her walls contracted around him, the lubrication of her release offering a warm wash against him.  The whine from her lips slowly quieting as the room seemed to spin around them.  Not realizing her eyes had fallen closed, she opened them once more to focus in on his face as a weak smile graced her features.  Feeling his hand there against her stomach, she brought one hand there against his, tiny fingers interlacing through his thicker digits, her palm to the back of his hand as she held to him.  Bringing her free hand from his chest to find the surface of the bed beside his head, allowing her to lean down over him pressing her lips softly against his as the weakness took her over in those moments beyond her release.

Orion Watching her open her eyes and that gentle smile was like watching the sun rise over a day, he was sure of it as he felt her hand over his before finding the back of his head. Pressing his lips back to hers as he tasted the exhaustion in her kiss which he was glad to have helped bring about. Giving her hand a gentle squeeze as his lips ventured from hers. Taking advantage of her sensitivity where his lips would travel the path of her neck. Tasting her pulse and the light perspiration already finding her skin. The race of her heart felt underneath of his lips with each kiss to her.

Jade As his lips ventured away from her own, she attempted to maintain that shift of her hips against him as his lips stole the taste of her skin.  Irregular breaths slowly regulating there as her hand slipped from his to find the side of his neck.  Every release still taking its toll on her just the same as the first he’d ever given her, a full body experience taking her over, forcing her into the position of a more than willing victim.  A soft kiss of her lips found the curve of his neck as she buried there into him as she often visited in the course of this level of intimacy, finding sheer comfort in being so close to him as she literally breathed him in, attempting to find the energy to sit up over him once again.  

Orion Tracing his lips to her throat, he’d make his way back to her lips. Just needing to taste her temperature in that moment before he was back to her. No rush and no demands of her made for when she was ready, she was ready. Knowing she was always worth the wait as he pressed back to her. Leaning slightly up on his elbows to relieve her need to lean all the way over.

Jade The path of his lips was every bit as hypnotizing as it had been when it all began with her trying to unfasten his pants, finding it nearly impossible to focus when his lips were at her flesh.  A soft whimper there at her lips as he leaned up, both of her arms drawing around his neck as he slightly elevated.  Using her core muscles to draw the both of them upwards, willing him to sit before her while her lips found his there again.  That shift of her hips had failed her a moment before, but with the added stability of him there before her, she’d resume the same stroke that had taken her to that release a moment before.  She thought to ask him if this was working for him, yet she’d hold her tongue and trust that the man would do something should he need any alteration here.  

Orion Drawing upwards to sit before her as she drew against him. Clearly taken with her in any position, let alone one that allowed such intimacy. His arms winding tight around her as he hummed low to her lips at the welcoming of that whimper. Hands gripping at her hips warmly and tightly. Her structure all his for the taking as he managed to keep his hips there to the bed. Inhaling deep as the swell of the heat of her orgasm was still felt over him within those aching walls.

Jade The heightened sensitivity after giving him her first release in this manner may very well have started something.  The power in which she released around him radiated throughout her being in a way that she’d not experienced previously with him.  Finding both the benefits as well as the draw backs to such, yet she believed in this case it was for the best.  Feeling him there before her, the way his arms wrapped around her, she drew in tight to him as she maintained that shift of her hips against him, rolling her hips as she felt his hands holding firm to her.  Her lips finding the lower curve of his ear, teeth lightly gripping against the tissue.  “Think you can handle the rest of your life just like this?” she asked, a smirk to her lips as she knew she very well could.

Orion Feeling her at his ear as she nipped at him, her question luring a low sound of approval and agreement for him. “I intend to.” he reminded her as his lips found her collarbone. Taken with the woman before him. “The only woman I could ever love…my red-tailed hawk.” he remarked, not sure it made sense to her but the animals mated for life just as he had and thus it was easily explained as his hand settled on the base of her spine. “Just the three of us…” he added, a mere reminder to himself if nothing else as to what was happening here.

Jade As he spoke, she felt weak against him, not from the physicality of their union but from the overwhelming emotions he fed to her through his words.  “I so love you,” she whispered, words that had already been expressed here in both vocalization as well as physical display, yet they were the only words she could manage as she felt his hand there against her lower back, speaking of the little one they only became aware of hours before.  Though she had felt the initial shock over those lab results, it was the little mentions such as this that would bring her through that shock to a place of true happiness at the prospect of building a family with him, giving a child what they didn’t have growing up, knowing all the while that he was going to be the world’s best father.  Tears welled there in her eyes, hidden by the sheer placement of her kiss just below his ear, though that alteration in her breathing may very well be picked up by the man.  She didn’t dare attempt another word as the shifting of her hips slowed, unable to draw herself out of the emotional side of things.

Orion As she repeated her words, he returned them just as easily as he loved her just as much if not more. Hearing the change in her breathing and the stillness of her hips that had his head luring back to meet hers. Inspecting her briefly as his brows furrowed at the sight of her glassed over eyes. Not quite sure what he had done to her as his thumb reached up to graze her jawline. “Good tears or bad tears?” he asked, only recently learning that there were any such thing as good tears but not typically able to distinguish the two.

Jade “Good,” she offered, the weight of the emotion breaking her already raspy voice.  A nod of her head as she felt his touch there to her jawline.  “The happiest tears ever cried,” she assured him as she drew her lips to press to his.  She wasn’t a crier.  She wasn’t often reduced to tears though if there were a woman faced with enough for it to be understandable for her to remain in that state, it was her.  It was a rare expression from her, often times only expelled in absolute fear or anger, it was here that she’d shed truly joyful tears.  Bringing one hand to the side of his face, her hips still barely shifting against his, sealing her lips against his over and over as though she’d vacate that kiss yet never fully doing so.

Orion Hearing her confirm that they were good tears, hearing the tone of her voice drawing a light smirk out of him as he found it slightly adorable in that moment. Pressing his lips back to hers as it was rare to see her in such a state yet as long as they were good tears, she could do it all she wanted. Yet, he’d still ask each and everytime just to be sure he wasn’t learning a false pattern. God forbid the day he mistake those sad tears for happy tears. He’d never be able to forgive himself as her hips returned their pace. Returning each kiss before one would result in the snag of his teeth to her bottom lip.

Jade Finding that smirk to his lips at her assurance of the emotion behind those tears, only able to offer a soft smile in return as he was getting her figured out little by little, yet she’d never rush him through.  The discovery of those little things being nearly as important as the physical discoveries they had made together since her own return.  Each one showing growth and an immeasurable amount of trust flowing in both directions.  Feeling his teeth find her lower lip, the dusting of tears against her face seemed to slow as her hips had momentarily, yet now were returning to just what she had worked up to previously.  Her eyes met his as his teeth took her lip, not moving from that position there as she easily gave up that tier to him.  Still slightly overcome with her own emotions, no doubt prompted by the little one within paired right along with the sentiment he’d offered her, potentially a telling sign as to what the next eight months could very well look like.  

Orion Somehow, he liked that side of her. She was warm where he felt cold. Balancing him and not making him feel so robotic at all. Maybe she could reach him. Maybe she’d be the best person to learn from in a world of concrete faces and names who had never been very good examples. Surely his own temper tantrums were a result of watching his father. A true actor through and through who if he did not get his way, would let the world know about it. Surely the only thing with the exception of his voice he had taken from the man. Gripping at his hip as he took to her bottom lip. Tugging her out slowly until she left his teeth. Feeling the rocking rotation of her hips taking over and quite liking the feeling of it around him as it drew a deep inhale from the man.

Jade Giving up her lower tier to him as he tugged lightly against her until she passed through his teeth, a smile finding her there beyond as he drew in that deep breath at what she could only imagine was the rocking of her hips against him as the two wrapped around one another in what seemed to be an ever shifting position.  Pressing her lips quickly to his before she was drawing back, setting out to instigate something there even if she couldn’t be completely sure what it was.  An incessant desire for the man that had yet to be quenched even if he was buried into her very core.  Once they had broken through her walls around such intimacy, the woman was coming into her own here, unable to find herself close enough to him now that this close was an option.  

Orion Feeling her pressing her lips to his before drawing back leaving him wanting for that kiss, his eyes would meet hers as she was shifting her weight. Seeing what worked where just as he had. His hand finding the back of her neck. Guiding her lips back to his as he became incessantly aware of the tightening of her walls around him. Reclaiming her for the first time that day yet he knew she felt too good to him in that moment for him to play with.

Jade Feeling the draw of his hand behind her neck, luring her lips back to his, she was entirely too taken by that feeling, knowing there was nothing else in the world that felt quite like this did.  Knowing he’d wanted her kiss in that moment and just taken it without delay had her fusing her lips back to his fully, finding a deeper roll of her hips there against him as she felt her heart rate speed in his hold.  Her tongue sweeping the part of his lips, requesting his taste to flood her entirely only able to wonder if she deprived him of the shift of her hips if he’d take those matters into his own hands as well yet unwilling to still her hips to actually find out.

Orion Knowing without a doubt that he could not be denied that roll of her hips in that moment, he was content to take it in. Feeling her rolling against him and those tight walls rebelling around him in the best of ways. Taken with ow good she felt as the press of her lips was partially to kiss her and to partially hold himself back from any motion or sound to suggest all this in that moment. Yet, knowing he’d only be so able to hide it as his hand tightened at her hip as he felt those rotations.

Jade The tightening of his hand at her hip spoke to her in ways he did not offer her with his voice, telling her he was just as taken by the motion as she was.  Never having taken the lead here, always following him as he explored positions and angles, this time it was her exploration that had her tensing over him again.  Her lower abdomen trembling as she held out for him, her teeth stealing his lower lip as she dug deeper against him in that shift of her hips.  Feeling his cock embedded deep within her, each roll of her hips stimulating her against those furthest walls within.  The jagged breath of the woman stealing her lips from his as she drew back against the strength of his hand putting all of her effort into the grind of her hips against his as her lower lip quivered in the impending release threatening her.  

Orion As she drew back from his lips, he'd allow it if only to press his forehead to hers. Getting there with her. Riding that pace that was sure to get them both there. Feeling that she was close as he was as well. Hardly able to keep up with that eye contact as he watched her lowering only to rise back up on him. Hand slipping from the back of her neck to her shoulder as he glanced back to meet her eyes. Needing the color of them in that moment to know she was with him.

Jade Struggling to maintain that eye contact herself for no other reason but her deepest attempts to stop herself from cumming.  As his hand took her shoulder, his eyes in search of her own, she’d find his hues there as she fixated entirely on him.  “Orion,” she managed, the name coming forth in a tone of desperation, knowing in just a matter of moments she would be unable to hold out any longer.  The tension radiated through her as her walls drew in just as tight, aching to be released as she exhibited a control here that she hadn’t yet attempted.  Waiting for him, knowing he was close, she drew a sharp breath as a last attempt to hold herself off but those walls would betray her as they clenched around him, giving way to the pulsing that would ordinarily have her searching for the curve of his neck.  Instead, her hands found his upper arms, clenching tightly there as she made no attempt to hide in that release, letting him experience her pleasure right before him just as she was on the cusp of his.

Orion As he kept his eyes on her as she reached her orgasm, putting him in the fast lane for his own. Yet, as much as he'd like to watch her through all of it, it wouldn't be possible. Resolved not to hide away as his teeth found his bottom lip. Embedding into the flesh.  Unkowingly piercing his own skin as he kept his eyes on her. Breath catching as he was close. Hands tightening over her hips as his own drove from the bed. Unable to help himself as he allowed that deeper access. Once, twice, three times over before he released. A deep groan finding him as he gave her everything he had in that moment.

Jade There in the heights of her own release, the upward thrust of his hips sent a rush through her like none other.  Her eyes set to his, missing the piercing of his lower lip as she felt her inner walls clenching over and over against his mass.  The groan of his lips followed by the stillness of his own hips had her slowing her own there against him to allow the completeness of both of their releases.  As the last of those contractions held tight to him, she leaned in to press her lips against his.  Finding that taste of blood against his lower lip, she drew back suddenly, her eyes dropping as she brought a fingertip there against him.  At first, her touch was soft, delicate, observing that which the bite had caused.  Then she zeroed in on the mark, pressing her finger firmly against the cut as she drew her own lips to the side of his neck.  Needing that intimacy to continue beyond as it had been present throughout.  

Orion Feeling her at his lip yet not all at once as the surge of blood barely registered as such with him. Too taken with that pleasure to care anymore or less with it before she was pressing her lips to his before recoiling as if something had shocked her. Feeling her finding the side of his neck as he hoped to keep that intimate contact even as his back hit the bed and he pulled her against him for the slight adjustment as his tongue traced his bottom lip to collect his own blood to be cleansed.

Jade As he laid back, she easily went over with him, having no energy nor desire to fight him on the matter.  An ultimate show of trust from the woman as she’d literally allow him to do whatever it was he wanted in that moment, her fears in this regard long gone now.  Tasting of his flesh there at the curve of his neck, a thought there forcing a smile over her lips.  “That is how we created a baby,” she offered, her words broken by deep breaths as she came down from the heights of her own orgasm, her inner walls taking their final pulses around his length.  Her kiss drew up to his jawline before finding his lips once more, by no means ready to separate from the man she now called her husband.

Orion Hearing her speak, he exhaled simply. A sound of agreement as that was definitely how it was done. Feeling her at his jawline and his lips where he’d press gently back to hers. Careful of the distribution of his blood as his hand slipped up. Finding the side of her neck as his thumb passed her own jaw tenderly. Soft and lingering pecks before he’d pull back to reseal again. “That is how it it’s done…” he confirmed as his free arm swept her waist.

Jade Feeling his hand there to the side of her face, she’d naturally lean into that touch, loving nothing more than the way he did so freely.  Touch had been something Jade had shied away from for many years, so to be able to lay there over him, with him still inside of her, allowing him to touch her in any way he should like; she knew she was home.  “Mhm,” she managed, pressing another kiss to his lips as she felt his arm coming there around her.  Leaning slowly to the side with the support of his arm, she finally allowed him to pass free of her.  A heavy sigh there at her lips at the absence as she felt most complete with him within her now, she found a place there to his side while laying against the arm he held her in.  “You busted your lip,” she offered, her fingertip there at the wound once again, her eyes nearly apologetic as she looked to him.

Orion Allowing his arm to lower her against the bed there to his side against her own side as she allowed him to leave her all together, he heard her mention his lip and nodded. “I know.” he confessed, able to feel it or more accurately, able to recognize it from her reaction. However, there wasn’t much to do with it now Feeling her finger to him as he met her eyes and the look of something he couldn’t quite place. “That’s alright though.” he confirmed as he leaned his head into press his lips to her shoulder.

Jade As he claimed it was all alright, she offered a slight nod of her head, taking his word for it as she dismissed the feeling that it had been of her fault or doing.  Feeling him lean in to her, his lips finding her shoulder, she sighed softly at the contact, letting her eyes fall closed as she simply enjoyed the way his lips felt against her own flesh.  Drawing one leg up and around his thigh, her heel pushing his leg forward to drawn him between her own thighs as she wrapped herself in him as best as she could, a soft trail of her fingertips against his upper arm.  “I’m having your baby,” she whispered playfully, showing twice now in the moments after just how heavily fixated on the information she’d become.

Orion Allowing her to move him as she saw fit to make this union a better one as they laid against one another, his eyes glancing down before back up as she spoke her thoughts in that moment. For once, he was not the one fixated as he gave up a light smirk. A gentle laugh and a nod. “That’s what you allege anyway.” he teased as if it would not be his yet he knew better. He knew he was her only. He knew he was the only one to lay in this capacity with her and a shake of his head confirmed that he couldn’t even mess with her lik ethat. “I’m kidding…you are…you will. Ours.”

Jade A knowing smirk stole her features as he insinuated the baby could belong to another.  Giving him that one as she shook her head lightly, entirely too taken by the man’s laugh and that smirk on his face to argue with him when she knew he was only teasing.  As soon as he corrected himself, she was pressing her lips into his, albeit briefly.  There was no need to ask the man if he was happy as it seemed they both had come through the shock element and found something else entirely.  For her, it was satisfaction.  She was completely satisfied with every element of her life in the moment, allowing her to truly face other life altering decisions although she’d been warned to make none. “Our baby… I like /your/ baby better,” she confessed as she could picture him as a father easily and the thought alone warmed her entirely.

Orion If there was ever a baby that was anymore his, he’d never know it as the had gone through this task together. Getting comfortable. All the highs and lows that were unmistakably sincere as they came. Pressing his lips gently back into hers as he heard her continue. “/My/ baby….” he clarified, knowing it was just as much hers but he’d allow her this one even if it didn’t make much of a difference back to him. He or she would be both his baby and their baby. The product of the sum of their parts and then some as his arm tightened around her midsection.

Jade As he drew her in, her frame easily formed into his.  The soft pass of her fingertips against his upper arm drew up to find the side of his face, her hand small there against him.  His proclamation of it being his baby drawing what might have been her broadest smile throughout the course of the evening.  Though it had not been planned, she couldn’t help the feeling that she was giving him something no one else could, as though the child growing within her was a gift from her to him.  Only wishing there were some way to know exactly when he or she had been conceived, yet satisfied enough without fully knowing.  Drawing her lips there to his once more, not seeming to be able to break free of this for more than a moment or two as she felt completely connected with him.

Orion “My baby.” he repeated, hearing how those words tasted and settled like sparks on his tongue and still not quite sure what to make of them. All he knew was that he liked it. Alot. Pressing his lips back to hers and not giving her the fullness of that kiss if only for his bleeding lip, his free hand was sweeping down over her side and over her abdomen. Pausing to admire the life growing within as he never thought to see themselves in such a situation but there they were. At their “someday.”

Jade As his hand passed down her side, coming to rest over her stomach, her smile broke the kiss as she had no other choice in the matter.  Drawing back slightly where her eyes met his.  “Someone for you to play for,” she reminded him, a nod of her head as his music would have new ears.  “To teach all the things I’ll never be able to remember,” she went on, only able to imagine just that.  “I’ll sit on the sofa, you can lay in my lap.  I’ll nap while you two spend time together before he or she is even here,” she offered as she let her imagination run while with that one.  Bringing her hand from the side of his face to find his hand there against her, joining in that moment as she laid her head there against her own pillow.  “Crash is going to be so jealous.”

Orion Hearing her mention someone to play for, he smirked softly. “in good company…” he reminded her, as nothing quite beat playing for her. Knowing she enjoyed it and knew their baby might as well yet it was for all the same for him. The release. that came with it. The concentration of his mind on those notes appearing before his very eyes. Hearing her idea, he nodded simply as he wanted that and he’d like it before her mention of Crash bringing a smirk. “He’ll be like ‘no fair, one baby at a time. I was here first.’”

Jade “Someone else for him to protect,” she offered, knowing the peace of mind that had come over her when Orion gifted him to her in the absence of her sidearm.  Slowly drawing her hand up his arm, leaving his there for as long as he might like it to remain, she pressed a kiss to his forehead before laying back at her own pillow once again.  A yawn softly passing her lips as that which they had shared together had been both emotionally stimulating and physically exhausting all at the same time.  Turning into his chest, she drew herself in closer, trying to stay awake now, yet sleep was pulling on her hard.  “I still want to take our trip,” she whispered softly against his chest.

Orion Watching her yawning, trying not to yawn himself but failing before she was at chest. Hand at her back to soothe the woman who was about to go to bed as his wife. Hearing her whisper as he glanced down with a light smirk. "Alright, travel agency gets a call tomorrow..." he reasoned for appeasement.

Jade The soft smile there on her face was at first for how incredibly happy she felt as their day came to a close.  Making it through everything that they would face, yet still managing to take that step together as husband and wife, to block out any and everything else, and lay in their bed together… her heart was full.  That same smile would only brighten as he met her request, prompting her to lift her chin to press a soft kiss there to his lips as her hand found the side of his face for what might be the last kiss between them on a day she knew she’d never forget.

Orion Pressing his lips gently back to hers as he tasted the fatigue in her kiss. Knowing he had done quite the job at knocking her out for the night and he to her. Yet, he would stay awake to watch her. The peace in her features as she'd fade off coached him into his own sleep as he managed a soft smile there to her lips.

Jade Feeling the softness of his smile to her lips, she drew back slightly if only to capture a glimpse of it with her eyes, knowing nothing that could hold a candle to it.  Her hand still there against the side of his face, her fingertips softly stroked his jawline as she brought her hand down slowly.  “I so love you,” she promised, giving one last kiss to his lips before she was drawing back down into his chest, her body still bare to his as she curled into him entirely.  

Orion Having been told when he was younger that his kiss was entirely too soft, too weak, he never expected to see a smile there. Yet, not only was it there but on his wife's lips nearly prompting another as her promise interrupted. "I love you." He returned as she turned into him, lips finding her temple. "So much."

Jade The feeling of his lips there to her temple joined with the promise he returned to her would ease the woman into a peaceful sleep where she knew nothing in the world could ever shake what the two of them shared.  It simply wasn’t possible for if it could, it would have already.  They seemed to understand one another on a level no other could, appreciating one another for who they were above all else.  Her hand rested there against his chest, tightening for that moment beyond his words until it would ease as she fell off entirely.  The woman who couldn’t imagine baring herself to another, even him, laid naked against him without reservation in a place she’d never doubt her safety or the depths of his love for her.

Orion Watching as the woman eased off, he always had this irrational fear about him that the woman would reach for him as she drifted off and find him already asleep and she would not bother him when she needed him. As irrational as it was, he'd stay awake for her until he was completely sure. Until her breathing had evened and remained so and only then would he permit himself away from this place and into another.

-September 1, 2016

[xbostonsfinestx-blog]

Jade

A morning appointment was her least favorite thing as it drudged up things she was not prepared to deal with, yet had to do so as if she was perfectly fine, hiding deep within her the fact that she was truly a session away from a break down if they continued to prod at her brain the way they were.  The only part of it that she looked forward to was the embrace from Orion that would follow.  A part of her wanted to tell him he didn’t have to come anymore, but the truth of the matter was that she needed him to be there.  She would hold it together within the room, but as soon as she was in his arms, she’d let it go.  There was no tough girl act with him.  No attempt at getting her job back there.  She was just Jade in the one place she’d always feel most comfortable.  That morning had been no different.  After her appointment, Orion would return her to the apartment where Crash was waiting.  The two would spend the afternoon at his training session and then back to the apartment.  After his session, Jade sent Orion a text to let him know she was back at the apartment before she’d settle under a blanket on the sofa with Crash there at her side.  Finally, she had stopped feeling as though she was defenseless, trusting in the dog since her firearm was still not in her own possession.  Turning on the television, she flipped through the channels in an attempt to find something she could close her eyes to, having learned the trick from Orion to keep the dreams from taking hold of her.  

Orion

Feeling the text go off in his pocket, he was powerless to enter. Hands behind his back. The nauseating interrogation room in all of its luminescent white. Head downwards. Watching each drop of deep red dropping from his nostrils and down. Aimed between his legs and the edge of the chair. Puddling on the floor with a distinctive drip. The adrenaline was still rushing through his veins as he was coming down. The past hour with him in patches. More black than white. A patchwork of blank pieces. The Sheriff's Deputy pressed his head to the steel table, listening to his own breathing. Locked in and caged like an animal to cool off as his girlfriend was called in the nearby room to pick him up like some sort of a naughty child. What would kick off a turmoil based few weeks for the man that may permanently stain his reputation and all the work he had done for the city.

Jade

The ringing of her phone was met without an answer.  The woman had officially dozed off, laying there, only wondering why there was a duck in her dream.  Over and over, she searched for the duck, only to realize it was not a duck at all, but her phone vibrating on the coffee table as the ringer had been silenced carelessly.  One hand reaching over, she drew the phone to her ear, half awake as she answered.  As the words from the other end came forth, she sat up, suddenly far more awake.  “Wait, what?”  She asked as she drew the blanket back from over her, given no more information than that Orion needed her to the station.  “Why?  Is everything okay?  Is he okay?”  Her words were met with a politically correct answer that details could not be shared with her, but that he needed her to come to the station.  “Okay, okay.  I’m on my way.”  She stated as she hung up the phone, slipping it into her pocket as she rose to her feet.  Crash there at her side, eyeing her as he could tell something was off with her.  “It’s okay, boy.  I’ll be back.  Be good.”  She instructed as she slipped her shoes on her feet, reaching for the door.  The training for the dog had been working as he was well in tune to her now, standing at the door where he whined to go with her, not because he wanted to be with her, but because he knew something was wrong.  Fast feet would take her down to her car, starting the ignition, making the short drive towards the department.  When she arrived, she parked in her typical place, making short work of arriving inside to the front desk.  “I’m here for-“  Her words were cut off as the desk sergeant already knew why she was there, assuring her he would be out momentarily.  Pacing back and forth, she could only be thankful she wasn’t standing in a hospital at the moment, yet this call wasn’t much better as she knew something was seriously wrong if Orion needed her there and she was not simply allowed to go back to his office.

Orion

As the door of the interrogation room opened, Orion lured his head from the table. Looking up to the sheriff, his boss who took a step towards him. Orion sniffled yet the blood still dripped down his lips. "Are these cuffs really necessary?" He asked, a firm tug of them before the sherrif grabbed one wrist, unlocking them before they were removed. "You act like a criminal, you'll be treated like one, King." Orion wiped his face. A blood pressure induced nosebleed that made it look like someone actually got a shot on him. No one ever did. He wasn't a fighter but he was strong. One good hit and it was lights out. He said nothing. Eyes to the ground as he reached for his badge and gun. Already knowing how this went as he rose to his feet. "You're suspended until further notice, King...you'll need a clean mental eval  to come back to desk work." The man added dryly, he nodded. The door opened for him as he slipped out of the interrogation room.

Jade

“Agent Kerrigan?  If you’d like to take a seat?”  The sergeant addressed her, making an offer to her as she paced back and forth.  Jade turned, pausing her step as she shook her head.  “No, I’m quite fine.”  Her words were sharp and conversation ending, as she couldn’t possibly sit down.  After several minutes, she’d approach the desk again.  “Can you tell me what’s going on back there?”  She asked, her suspicions growing by the minute.  The woman offered a kind word attached to her ‘no’, frustrating Jade to no end.  She had one person in this world she could count on, and yet she was being kept out here.  Texting him would be of no use, this much she knew.  He was involved in something, yet she couldn’t know just what.  A box of items was brought to the front desk, the name King written to the side of it.  Instantly she froze.  She watched as words were exchanged between the officer and the desk sergeant before the woman looked back to Jade.  “He’s on his way up now.”  The words should have instilled relief in the woman, yet that box on the edge of the desk did not.  Jade offered no thanks this time, simply turning her back to return to the pacing pattern she had carried with her for the last eight minutes she had been in the district.

Orion

Leading the march up the familiar set of steps, it wasn't long until they hit the front door of the reception area. Still not having located a paper towel up to that point though the bleeding of his nose was slowing having thoroughly coated his shirt. He couldn't help but wonder if this was the last time he'd see the inside of this place. He had to drive that thought out of his mind. The years of work and pressure and imminent failure would surely bring him to his knees. He felt so much that he felt nothing but the shaking of his hands as he slipped into that front room. Stopping dead in his tracks at the sight of his girlfriend which made things all too real. He was being picked up by the one person who could handle him. This was it. One lost moment of composure. He swallowed hard, refusing to let anyone else see that rise and fall of his adams apple.

Jade

As the door to the right of the sergeant’s desk opened, Jade was immediately drawing in a breath.  The blood on his shirt was an indication of either stress or injury and she was not about to make an assumption on it.  She took one step forward before she paused, knowing she could not cross that line without expressed permission from the desk sergeant.  Reaching out instead, she took the box of his things from the counter top, not permitting him the shame that would come with carrying out his personal belongings, as she knew this was how this went.  He was in trouble, fired, suspended, something, and his items as well as himself were being escorted off the premises.  Catching that swallow with her eyes, she knew it was bad and he was not taking it well.  How could he?  She wasn’t taking her own stint well.  Turning to the desk sergeant, she offered a simple nod as she drew the keys from her pocket, handing them to Orion as she would never take the driver’s seat unless he told her to.  A half smile met her lips, there purely for him.  Whatever he was up against, they would get through, even if it was another burden to carry.  The load was so heavy these days, what was one more thing on top?  “You ready to go?”  She asked as her keys met his hand, as casual as possible, as if they were just meeting to go to lunch like they had back in the day before her time away, before life got so complex.  That smile remained as the officers stood behind him, ensuring he was exiting the building, overkill if Jade had her say in the matter, but she didn’t know just what he had done that day, nor did she care.  Orion was not at risk for taking down the entire department in anger, and if he had wanted to, two officers would not be enough to stop him.

Orion

Feeling her place the keys in his hand, his eyes followed the woman. Seemingly nonchalant while his life was falling apart. Years of effort all simplified to a cardboard box with what little he had on that desk in his office. He nodded simply. Gentleman enough to walk towards the door, opening it where he grabbed the box from her in the meantime. Ready to toss it out on the way home as nothing there had any value to him at the immediate moment.

Jade

As the box was taken from her, she dared not try to maintain it.  Whatever he needed in that moment was his for the taking. If he needed to carry the box, she wouldn’t fight him on it.  If he needed to smash her windshield with a brick, she’d be the one to offer him the brick.  That’s how this worked, complete support flowing both ways, regardless of what it was the other needed.  She stepped through the door he held for her, not giving a second glance back, waiting for him just beyond the door.  When he had joined her side, she walked to the parking area, not needing to point out the car as it was right where it always was when she was there.  She’d ask him no questions until they were within the car, and even then she would be careful.  It was clear he would need to talk, but she knew it would have to be in his time.  “It’s going to be okay,” she whispered, not knowing exactly what it was that was going to be okay, but wanting him to feel the support she was offering, assuring him that no matter what had happened today, they would find their way through it.

Orion

"It's not." He added, voice firm. Bold and deep, as it always was. Every inch an actors son yet he was not acting. Too many emotions he couldn't recognize. Try as she might, she wouldn't quell this storm. Walking to the car, the weight of that box in his hand as he popped open her trunks in impending distance. Dropping the box abruptly in the back. Attempting not to slam the trunk but doing just that. So unaware of his own strength as he prepared to enter the car. Eyes seeking out that office that he was now being evicted from. It was all tainted. It was all gone. All that work. Years of self control. Evaporating with one swing of his fist. He was mad. But out of everything, he was mad at himself and that was the most dangerous part of it all.

Jade

Jade had seen many sides of Orion, but the only time she had seen this from him had been in times when Cael had taken things too far with her.  The slamming of her trunk proved this instantly.  No amount of calming words from her were going to help him, perhaps they could even do the very opposite.  Taking a deep breath, she opened the passenger’s side door, slipping into her seat as she watched him staring at the building.  The only thing resonating within her was the fact that she was there.  She wasn’t in New York as an undercover agent.  She wasn’t at her office in Boston, should it still be her office.  She wasn’t off somewhere that she couldn’t get to him.  She was there.  And though it may seem that she could be of no help, she had to assure herself her presence was enough.  Whatever he needed, she reminded herself time and time again as she watched him outside of the vehicle.  Giving him as much time as he needed, she pulled her door closed, buckling her seatbelt, staring at a man she simply could not reach at that moment.  Biding her time for him to give her an opening, some way in.  She had known Orion for many years, and in such she knew there was no busting through this.  She had to wait him out.  Wait for him to reach for her.  For any other attempt from her could send the man further off course than he already was.

Orion

Slipping into the drivers side of the unfamiliar vehicle which only added insult to injury, fumbling with shaking hands to apply the keys to the ignition. Starting it as he attempted an even breath that rattled in his chest. The concept of losing control was making him even worse at the moment. Instead of gripping the wheel, his hands were finding his face. Resisting the urge to scream into his palms as his fingers roughly glided over his head, through his hair. Passing back over again and again. A fumbling grasp at reality and calm slipping through open fingers.

Jade

As the car came to life around them, he did not slip it into first gear, instead opting to run his hands against his face and hair, causing Jade to take a deep breath for the both of them.  She bit at her lower lip for a moment, attempting to figure out if she should say something and if she should, what would it be?  From the corners of her eyes, she would watch him, not turning to look at him dead on at first.  He needed a minute, an hour, something more than she could give him there in the parking lot of the district.  Finally, she slipped her hand over, resting it against his thigh as softly spoken words separated her lips.  “If you want me to drive…” she offered, though never before had she done so in front of him.  It was his place to be behind the wheel of the car if he was in a vehicle.  She was a firm believer in such, and yet here she was, offering to trade with him, if for no other reason but to give him how ever many minutes she possibly could without him feeling as on the spot as he was.

Orion

“No, I…” giving up a slow breath, his hands slipped from his face. The need to concentrate prevalent as he decided that he would pull this off. To save his breakdown for later. Shifting the car into reverse, he eyed the mirrors. The anger visible and primal in his eyes before he was shifting forward out of the parking lot none too gently. A shift of a turn signal as he pulled off onto the main stretch of road back towards the apartment. Reaching out for the radio if only to distract himself from the inevitable.

Jade

Waiting for the rest of his statement, it was left to the imagination as he found first gear, shifting out of the lot far more recklessly than normal.  She withdrew her hand from his thigh, resting it instead on her own, at a loss for what to say or do at the moment.  Left with no other option than to be a second set of eyes on the road.  As the radio cut on, the sound filled the car, making any source of verbal communication an impossibility.  Since her return a few weeks prior, she had felt out of place with every other person she had come into contact with, except Orion.  But now, she was feeling it there.  Her rock.  Her strength.  The man who would stand up for her, hold her close, and shield her from the harsh realities that haunted her dreams was now going through his own hell in a place she couldn’t reach him.  “Okay…” she whispered, maintaining her eyes to the road if not for any other reason but their safety as she wasn’t entirely sure he should be driving at this point, but wouldn’t dare say so.  Dampening her lips, she leaned her head against the headrest, praying silent prayers to a God she didn’t believe existed that the two of them would make it to the apartment in one piece.

Orion

Even in his anger, she had no reason to worry. He was focusing entirely on the road. Albeit, a bit faster than normally. A bit more white-knuckled to the wheel but dangerously? No. Though if the man would have known half of what was running through her own head, he would have had a breakdown all of it’s own for that reason entirely. He could be her rock and her protection from the world yet he belonged within it too. The pressure of not being able to express this when he was already kept from expressing so much in the first place was grounds for something dangerous. His mind drifted to the classic rock station taking over the car.

Jade

Ordinarily, Jade could take silence.  She thrived in silence at times.  But now, the silence was deafening to her.  She couldn’t reach him, and yet she wanted to more than perhaps ever before.  Bearing witness to the man dealing with a hell of his own, more importantly /on/ his own, was not going to serve to be a strong suit for her.  His being altered made her feel altered as he was her core.  She didn’t know if she should rely on normalcy at this point in time, suggest they stop to get their typical Thursday dinner on the way home, or if she should go with the flow of what was happening there.  In truth, she simply hadn’t been ‘Jade’ long enough once more to know what to even do.  The alter in her wanted to prod at him, grasp for his hand, make him talk, though she knew none of those would work with Orion, or she thought they wouldn’t.  Instead, silence.  Uncomfortable, loud silence.  The speed of the vehicle was easily felt throughout her frame, though he seemed to maintain easy control of the car at every turn.  Cars slipping in front of them were not met with the front end of the car he controlled.  The brakes were not slammed.  Within just a few minutes, she would relax a bit, letting her eyes instead drift to him there in the seat beside her.  She’d already tried telling him it would be okay, whatever it was, and it was dismissed.  She had no other words to offer, yet it felt as though there were ten thousand on the tip of her tongue.  A moment took her over, her hand crossing the path from her thigh to his once more, a last ditch effort to physically reach him even though she couldn’t emotionally penetrate that wall until after they were outside of the vehicle, in a safe place for him to release whatever it was that had happened that day.

Orion

Feeling her hand drifting to his thigh, he inhaled sharply. For a moment, it could be mistaken for the need to yank away. For revulsion, for the need to not be trusted. Yet, it was something much deeper. “He wouldn’t stop touching me. I told him to stop touching me. He wouldn’t stop. He just kept doing it. Over and over and over again. He just wouldn’t…I couldn’t…control myself…I.” interrupted by the need to breathe as he rambled, knowing she couldn’t understand, knowing it wouldn’t make sense but he didn’t need to in that moment.

Jade

The flinch of the man was nothing she’d ever seen before at her own touch.  She’d seen it before with others, even since being back in Boston.  The woman at the restaurant her first full day home.  He wasn’t supposed to draw back from her.  They were above that.  She was above that, or was she?  As he spoke, her hand slowly withdrew, coming to realize she had probably picked the worst way to attempt to reach him by instigating something too close to that which had apparently happened that day to him with someone else.  Someone who wasn’t her.  Someone unwelcomed.  Yet she wasn’t feeling too welcomed to touch him now either.  With her hand taking her other, she folded her hands together to hide the trembling there at his refusal to her touch as she attempted to focus on the jagged words he offered to her.  She was able to gather someone had touched him, repeatedly.  A male.  And that he couldn’t control himself.  But she couldn’t imagine what had happened beyond that point.  “Who?  Who kept touching you?”  She asked, trying to not drill him with questions, attempting to let him just get through that on his own, but it was already becoming clear to her that he was leaving out details as it was all just too fast in his mind.  She needed to understand for him.  And now for her too, as this singular event would undo years between them that had produced the ability for them to reach out and touch one another mutually without that flinch that she now associated with her own touch to him.

Orion

Had he had the ability to explain in that moment that it wasn’t her touch that caused his jolt, merely the reminder of the touch that had caused this all to happen, he would have. Yet, he did not. Hearing her question as he pulled into the parking lot of the apartment. Probably the fastest time he had ever met. Even when he was late which was a rare occasion in itself. He shifted into park as he took another even breath. The heat now within the car ungodly. “He…this…this guy at. We answered a call and this guy wouldn’t stop touching me. He just…wouldn’t stop. He just kept doing it. Over. I couldn’t control myself. I…” now clearly caught onto this, he took another breath. “I punched him. In the face. He went down and didn’t get back up. I just…I couldn’t…I just…” pressing his forehead to the wheel, he pulled his head back to give an abruptly hard smack of his head to the wheel just to distract himself by that point.

Jade

Every single bone in Jade’s body ached to reach out to him as he struggled his way through telling her the events that led to what she was now realizing was more than likely a suspension based on his account of what had happened, but she knew not to dare try again, nor would she.  Any further touch between them would be instigated by him and after that flinch, she would take time to trust that the ability to do so flowed both ways.  She had always been easily damaged by others, though this would stand as the first time she would feel as such from him.  But her focus was to his words until his head slammed against the steering wheel.  Watching him inflict pain on himself was not something she had ever seen before, as they were entering a series of firsts.  The woman wanted to stop him, and yet she kept her hands tightly together, still folded against her lap as she made no attempt to leave the vehicle even though it was stopped.  “You had to make it stop,” she added, knowing exactly how that felt for her, only able to imagine it to be the same or worse for him.  “You hit a suspect… or a cop?”  She asked, that question mostly her desire to figure out just how severe of a suspension he was facing.  She understood how rooted in his work the man was and how he must be feeling like it was all falling apart, yet the inability to touch him had her feeling less and less capable to get inside of his head all at the same time.

Orion

"He wasn't...he wasn't a suspect. He was just a random." He explained, having a hard time doing even that. "He just kept poking me. 'What are you doing about this? Why does nothing ever get done.' Just wouldn't stop. I kept asking him not to touch me but he wouldn't stop. He just...I...I couldn't control myself. He just kept doing it. Over and over. A deep breath as he gave another thump of his head to the wheel just to make it all stop.

Jade

As the answer to her question came forth, she felt immediate rage within her.  He had asked them to stop, repeatedly, and thus in her mind, they got what was coming.  The only reason this was an issue in her mind, and more than likely the stance the department would be taking on it, was the uprising of awareness within the boundaries of police brutality.  She swallowed hard at that one, knowing it wasn’t something that would be easily fought.  He more than likely would have no choice but to serve his suspension.  “O, tell me they only suspended you…” she requested, knowing damned well they had options beyond such.  If it was a simple suspension, there would be time parameters on such, mental evaluations such as those she was facing presently herself.  But if it was suspension for investigative purposes, he could be completely fucked and unemployable by the end of this.  With her own professional status in limbo, she understood so much more now of just how he was feeling.

Orion

"Until the guy comes to and presses charges. I just...I." there were no words for him at this point. Knowing exactly how this went. He might as well put in his notice now and potentially escape with some hope at redeeming the benefits he had worked for. His dream was over. It was back to the family funeral home for Orion King after this. Proving his father right. That he'd never make it out there on his own. Killing the engine of the car, he handed her the keys as he opened the car door. Blood soaked t-shirt, redenning mark on his forehead and the look of sheer death in his eyes intact. God help the next person to cross him.

Jade

With the keys passed to her, she watched as he exited the vehicle, leaving her there just as stunned as ever.  Darkness flashed through her eyes as she knew she could be the one to keep the guy from pressing charges.  She may not have been capable of such before, but now?  Now was a different story.  Now there was a part of her that would not take such a threat.  Now there was a part of her that could easily take control, turning off Jade and on the alter of Jaycie that would have no problem in shutting someone up.  She’d spent six months learning the art of torture and intimidation.  She’d spent months on end as a force to be reckoned with.  A girl afraid of nothing.  As he left that vehicle, a small smirk took her features behind his back.  A knowing smirk that would disappear a moment beyond when she unfastened her seat belt and joined him on the exterior of the car.  Making her way to the trunk, she opened it and withdrew the box from within.  A stronger woman emerged from that car as she looked towards him, repeating now with assuredness in her tone.  “Everything will be okay,” she promised him as she made her way towards the door of the building with his belongings in her own possession.

Orion

Unknowingly emerging from the vehicle, already ready to place a call to his grandfather to bite the bullet. To accept a full time position at the home. To assure he wouldn't go a week without a paycheck. Yet, anger swept in shortly after. He was too overwhelmed by this point. Watching her withdraw the box, he shook his head. Pointing towards the apartment complex dumpster. "I don't want to look at it. Let me throw it out." He requested of her. It would just be another reminder he didn't need laying around. An infuriating one of his own incompetence. Like his father had always said. He could never be normal and now he was giving up the ghost of such an illusion.

Jade

“No.”  The word came quickly off the tip of her tongue.  A word she had perhaps never spoken in his direction, but one she would not budge on.  “There are things in here that are important.  Important to you.  Awards.  Recognition.  A photo of us that sat on your desk.  No.”  She repeated, making her way past the dumpster to the steps of the building before she would pause and turn back around.  “Besides, if you dump them, what will you have to put on your desk when you return to work?  Can’t have an empty desk, now can you?”  She asked him.  With all she was up against in her own line of work and mental health, there was no way she was letting him give up so easily on his own professional life.  She was facing down demons every day in those damned sessions and doing it as bravely as possible for a job she wasn’t even sure she wanted back, so to see him willing to give it all up so easily was not an option in her mind.  She would easily slip into the dangerous alter if it meant getting his life back.  The life he loved.  The life he worked his ass off for.  “You see, I have this grand idea of marrying a cop.  I’m turned on by it.  So you kind of have to keep this stuff and you kind of have to be a cop, because you are a cop.  It’s in you.  It’s who you are.  Suspension or not, you’re a cop.”  As she reached the door of the building, she propped the box at her knee, tilting her head to the door.  “So come open the door, take me upstairs, and let me be a cop’s girlfriend.”  The words from her lips were not necessarily Jade’s own words.  They were Jade with a mixture there of the woman she spent six months as.  The stress Orion was feeling was drawing forth an alter.  An alter that could do for him what needed to be done.  A woman with confidence who would back down from no challenge.  The smile on her face and lift of her brows would suggest such poise as she drew that lower lip between her teeth.  “No one’s tossing anything out today.”  She stated decisively.

Orion

Hearing her speak, he wasn't sure who he was dealing with. She looked like his girlfriend but something was different. "I'm not." Hearing her with such confidence twisted the knife in his gut. Would she enjoy getting his hopes up for the impossible just to be crushed by the end result? No. Neither of them were prepared for that storm but this was the end. The city of Boston much less any other city would never make him a cop girlfriend. He stopped just short of the front door as he shook his head at her. "No gun, no badge, no cruiser. Nothing in that box matters." The absence at his hip was a stark reminder. He was nothing in that moment. The idea of her marrying a cop was a further twist in the gut as he wasn't going to be one formally for much longer. "It's all gone."

Jade

Standing there, holding that box, she couldn’t bear the things he was saying.  As she twisted a knife in him, he twisted one in her as well.  “In case you’ve forgotten, I have no badge, no gun.  I have no security clearance.  No office.  No work.  I sit for an hour every day having one of two doctor’s attempt to decide if I am fit to possess such again.  But they still address me as Agent Kerrigan.  I am still an agent.  I will be an agent when this is done, just as you are still a cop.  You are suspended.  You are not fired.  You were not suspended pending investigative discovery.  You were suspended.”  Stopping herself just shy of saying she would take care of it, she placed the box on the ground, nudging it with her foot in his direction.  “These things are yours.  Some personal.  Some professional.  But in this box is everything you are, everything you wanted to be, and everything you will continue to be.”  She stated, words she wished someone could say to her.  Turning, she reached for the door herself, pulling it opened as she turned to look at him.  “Everything in that box matters.”  She stated, slipping inside of the door she held opened, continuing to hold it opened for him to join her.  She was strong as she stood before him, stronger than she had ever seen herself without a gun at her side.  He could try to give up on himself, but if he expected her to do the same in that regard, he had another thing coming.

Orion

"Yes, because you are an FBI agent and you always will be. We are different and you know it. FBI agents don't get told to not do their jobs because of civil unrest." He reminded her as she attempted to use herself as example when there was no drawn shared traits. He didn't want his words to hers to be made backwards by what he was saying now. Watching her drop that box, he refused to believe his entire life was owned up to the possessions within. Watching her hold the door, he reached within. Grabbing the picture of the two of them usually pushed to the edge of the desk due to the fact that he was within it. Instead, he had one of just her causing him to set down the couple picture. "This is all that matters in that box..."

Jade

“Really?  So nothing else in that box means anything to you?  Not a thing?  Not a single award or certificate?  Not any of it?  It’s all just worthless?”  She asked, shaking her head as she did so.  She didn’t buy it.  That job was his life, it meant everything to him, so how he could stand here after punching one guy that deserved it and say it wasn’t?  It made no sense to her.  “Then look me in the eyes and tell me you don’t /want/ to be a cop anymore.  Tell me that you are turning your back on the last decade because you /want/ to turn your back on it.  Because until I hear that this is what you /want/, that you want a change of career path, all I’m hearing is that you are giving up and I know you far better than to believe you to be a quitter, Orion Malcolm King.  The man I love?  The one I fell in love with?  He is patient and he doesn’t give up.  He doesn’t give up on his dreams and he doesn’t give up on me.  So if you can give up on this, because you truly deep down want to, then I will walk that box to the dumpster myself.  But if you still have any fight in you, any determination at all, any passion for the career you love, then pick up that box and bring it inside and be the cop I know you are.”

Orion

“Nobody is giving up on you, Jade. I just said…I just, I-“ she wasn’t helping, she was adding pressure to him. Pressure that he couldn’t be what he needed to be right now. To hurt, to be done because he had to be the cop that she knew. The man that she knew. He had said that she was all that mattered to him and with a degree of certainty, that was true. He wouldn’t do either. He wouldn’t touch the box. He’d leave it there as he withdrew from her. Taking a step towards the curb where he took a seat. The motivational speech wasn’t what he needed. She was putting these things back into his head. Years of pressure combined had created a diamond yet he was never too far from feeling like the coal he began with. Shaking hands pressed back to the sides of his head as the combustion built. For what purpose did this serve for either of them? Never had he when she said she needed a break told her that she wasn’t entitled to her feelings or her moments. No, he held her in hers and assured she got her help. He got put on strings and dangled above expectation. He wasn’t giving up. He was being forced out and he was withdrawing his feelings before the killshot yet he wasn’t sure which one was more painful. The idea of letting down his career or disappointing her as a fresh wave rolled over him.

Jade

“Fuck,” she whispered as he took that seat against the curb.  Her mouth had sent him there.  That side of her that had stayed put away since her return, until now.  Instantly, she withdrew as well, now able to figuratively kick herself in the ass for the words she had expressed to him.  Words she felt she needed to hear herself, thus giving them to him in their truest form.  Words that were meant to be encouraging, yet they had sent him running from her.  Standing in that doorway a moment longer, she took a step towards him, her hands burning to hold him, and yet she couldn’t.  She couldn’t bear to see him flinch or turn from her again.  She couldn’t reach him physically and now she knew she couldn’t reach him mentally either.  Never in her life had she seen the man under such conditions where she couldn’t draw him in, yet now she would.  Taking that step back, she lifted the box from the ground where it sat, carrying it within the building.  She couldn’t reach him at the moment, but she could do something else.  She could pull some strings.  She could make sure his suspension was just that and nothing more.  As she made her way up the staircase to his door, she was already thinking it through.  A phone call to Flanagan, who would undoubtedly want to see how she was doing.  A request for information under the table, which would be owed to her thanks to doing the same for him at a time before.  A name.  Just a name.  Then a visit to a man that could potentially take Orion down.  Be it a conversation or a threat, she wasn’t sure yet, even death wasn’t off the table for her.  She’d shut the man up regardless of what it took.  If she couldn’t reach Orion, she could at least fix what was bogging him down, returning his life to that which it should be, regardless of the ramifications that may be in it for her.  

Orion

Deciding suddenly that he needed to use the bathroom, he pulled himself from his perch on the curb. Waiting until she had gotten up to the apartment where he drove through the door. Up the steps. Fumbling with the keys in his pocket knowing that the door would be locked with Crash behind it. He arrived to the door, popping it open. Not sure where she had gotten off to at this point but he just needed the release. To wash it all away. He was burning up within and there was no escape. Borderline panic attack as he spotted Crash in the living room. Already running at him yet Orion would have none of it. He slipped into the bathroom. Closing the door and locking it behind him. He began running a shower, undressing as he knew exactly what he was going to be doing here. Already going towards the medicine cabinet where he grabbed one of his razors. The same one she had used to shave him not so long ago, ironically. Popping open the corner of it to access the blade within.

Jade

Once she was within the apartment, she had left his box against the sofa while she went into the bedroom.  Sitting on the bed, she had the phone in hand, Flanagan’s name to the screen as she pressed the call button.  Holding the phone to her ear, she watched as Orion made a beeline through the apartment towards the bathroom.  Drawing in a deep breath, she watched him shut the door, hearing the lock just beyond it.  It was clear he didn’t want her in there just as Flanagan’s voice came through the line, overly thrilled to be hearing from his formerly silent partner.  “Missed me that much, eh?”  She asked, seemingly as casual as ever though her thoughts were within that locked bathroom.  “Yeah, I’m good.  But I actually need you to do me a favor.  Something happened today at Orion’s district and I need a name and address.”  She paused a moment as he sighed on the other end, knowing well that she was up to no good though he had never before seen her ask such a thing.  When he agreed, she was ecstatic.  “Thank you, so much.  And if you could get that for me in the next… hour?”  Flanagan agreed, though he knew Jade was being far too generous with that one.  It wouldn’t take even the hour to get it to her.  A warning came from him, reminding her to be careful and not to cross any lines that could permanently revoke her badge, he needed her back as soon as possible.  She simply laughed as she thanked him and hung up the phone, going to the door of the bathroom to knock against the wood.  “O?  I’m gonna go for a while.  Need to take care of something.  I promise you everything is going to be alright.  I’ll make sure everything is alright.”  Her words came forth honestly as she pressed her hand against the door’s structure, making a promise to him that she meant with all of her ability.  It would start as a request, then a threat, what would come next would be up to the man once she got to that point.

Orion

Hearing her call from the otherside of the door, he looked down at the blade he had now popped free. Craddling it between his fingers. Eyeing himself in the mirror. Where she was going, what she was doing was beyond his range entirely but all he could do was answer. In his strongest, most stable "alright." He returned, pushing open the shower curtain with the blade as he stepped within the running water. Setting it down for a moment to assure she was away from the door.

Jade

There was a part of her that had hoped he’d open the door for her, but when she was only met with an alright, she knew he was far from alright.  She just told him she’d make /sure/ everything was okay and he had no argument to the concept of it.  Pressing her forehead to the door, her hand there against the wood work as well, it was as though the other half of herself was within that room where she couldn’t reach him.  As she stepped back from the door, Crash nudged her back towards it.  “It’s okay, buddy.  I’ll be back,” she spoke as she reached down to pet the dog’s head, beckoning him to stand down, but again she was nudged to the bathroom door again.  “C’mon.  I’ll be back.”  She offered again with another step forward, this time feeling the dog sink his teeth against the leg of her pants, not allowing her to move from the door. “Crash.  No.”  Her words were firm as she demanded the dog stop, yet again she was shoved to the door.  It would take another minute of this same procedure before she would realize Crash wasn’t letting her leave, not because he wanted her there, but because there was something she needed to be there for.  “Orion, Crash is freaking out.  Can you come out here and help me?”  She asked as her hand tried the handle.  

Orion

Hearing her still at that door and her call, the force of the water passing over his face. Facing the shower head as he stood under it but just barely due to his height. Her call for help with the dog brought a shake to his head. His eyes found the blade. He needed this. He needed something just to let out the combustion. His world was collapsing around him yet the idea of disappointing her too was not one he could recover from. Leaving the water running, he pulled the shower curtain. Getting out as he wrapped a towel around his waist. Unlocking the door just enough to peak out his head. Not looking at her. Just at the floor. "You're his alpha, he's not going to listen to me." He reminded her as he reached for his body harness to hold him back for a moment.

Jade

As the door opened and Orion reached out for the harness, the dog was instantly snapping.  His intent was not to hurt Orion, but to make it clear that Jade was not to leave.  “The hell is wrong with him?”  She asked, her voice showing severe concern as she’d not quite ever seen the dog like this.  He was calm and well trained, and yet in that moment she couldn’t control him in the slightest.  “Crash, No!”  She called, but to no avail.  “I might be his alpha, but he’s telling me I need to come in there…” she realized as she spoke, her eyes finding Orion’s even as he was set to the floor with his own sightline.  “What’s going on?”  She asked, stepping forward towards the door where he stood.  As she stepped forward, the dog instantly withdrew, satisfied that he had turned Jade on to getting inside the bathroom, having done his job as much as he could at the time.  “He won’t let me leave because he knows you are upset.”  She concluded, bravery taking the woman over as she reached her hand towards Orion’s, not quite touching him, yet making it clear she wanted to be invited within with him.  Too scared to initiate the touch completely, she gave Orion that option as her hand remained outstretched towards him.

Orion

Watching the dog display what neither of them had ever seen, he didn't understand any of this. His heart was racing, if not for the water already on his skin, the sweat would be prominent and noticable. He hated feeling like he was hiding something yet as the dog gave her hints of his emotional state. Not even noticing as she reached out. Knowing she wouldn't complete the touch. Probably out of fear of being punched. He didn't blame her. He'd fear the same. "Maybe he just needs to go out..." he suggested weakly. Knowing better but it was still worth the try to keep her out of that bathroom and from what he had laying waiting for him.

Jade

With her hand outstretched and ignored, she offered a nod of her head.  She’d now faced his rejection twice.  Twice more than she ever had in her life with him.  In tune to his emotional state, she found herself losing the grounding in her own.  “Yeah,” she whispered as she slowly retracted her hand, turning her back to him so he wouldn’t see the tears that threatened her eyes.  “C’mon, Crash,” she began, instantly met with the dog rounding her feet, growling at her attempt to leave.  “Let’s go /out/.”  The word ‘out’ was emphasized, but it wouldn’t call the dog off of her as it should have triggered excitement in him, yet that low growl was humming at her feet.  Now unable to turn around towards Orion for the dampness was welling in the corners of her eyes, she stepped forward against the warning of the dog, causing his growl to turn into incessant barking.  She dared not take another step as she was not certain if the dog would now strike her to keep her from leaving, she stood, frozen before him.  “Crash!  He’s fine!  See?  I’m fine.  He’s fine.  Everything is just fucking fine!”  The woman who rarely opted for such language did so as her voice cracked under the emotion she was experiencing, giving hint to the condition of her own face though it was hidden from Orion.  Stepping forward again, this time she gave no option to stop.  She had something to do and it was going to get done.  The dog was faster than Jade to the door where he took his stance, growling and barking at her, lunging forward between barks, making it clear she was not leaving that apartment.

Orion

He had not rejected her, he has been waiting to see if she would do it yet knew as soon as she turned away that this was going to become about her as Crash narrowly kept them together. He wasn't fine. But he wouldn't argue with her. Crash knew. Somehow. Instinctive. He pulled the door open a bit more as she went to the door and he blocked her entrance. He stepped infront of him, allowing her a few feet to leave while still just in that towel. "It's okay, Crash." He attempted to assure him.

Jade

With Orion’s assist, Jade stepped towards the door, opening the front door of the apartment and stepping outside of it.  She felt as though she had done all she could within the apartment, even at Crash’s bidding.  She had reached for Orion, and deemed herself rejected when he didn’t meet her halfway.  She couldn’t pretend to understand what the man was going through inside of his head, but she could do something that would stop any further prosecution or permanent job loss.  The moment Jade left, it became fully Crash’s responsibility to care for Orion as he had been trying to do through Jade, but she felt utterly unwanted physically and emotionally to the man at that time.  Making her way to her car, she felt her phone vibrate against her hip within her pocket.  Withdrawing it, she had a text within from Flanagan, giving her the name and address of the man Orion had ‘assaulted’ that day.  Unlocking her car, she took to the driver’s seat, adjusting the distance of that seat from the wheel as she turned the key.  She might not be able to help Orion within the confines of that apartment, but she could do a world of good, or damage, on the outside.

Orion

As she left, he knew Crash was not going to be content with leaving him be but he wouldn't settle for anything less. He needed this. Especially now as it continued to build. Wondering why he was so evidently difficult to be there for. Sending her running for the hills giving him the impression that when things are good with them, they'd do fine but any ounce of trouble from him and he was on his own. Like usual. Walking back to the bathroom despite the dogs protests as he closed the door behind him.

Jade

Although Orion had missed it, she had told him where she was going.  She wasn’t running away from him in the slightest, but taking care of things in the only way she knew how.  With the address and name, she put the car into first gear, depressing the clutch as she shifted the vehicle forward.  Within ten minute’s time, she’d stand at the doorway of the man Orion had driven into the head with his fist earlier that day.  Knocking on the door, she drew in a deep breath as she had no idea how this would play out, Flanagan’s warning to her running through her mind.  Not to do anything she couldn’t come back from.  If only anyone knew just what she had done while undercover, just what she knew she was capable of doing now to protect that which she needed to.  While bringing her hand down, another text came through her phone, a full background on the man she was about to come face to face to, including a case the FBI had looked into on fraudulent property claims against his insurance.  They had come up empty, yet it wouldn’t take much to twist that in a bit to see if she could use it as leverage.  In truth, his reaction alone would tell her if Flanagan had something on him, which also meant Flanagan could make it go away since it was offered to her as a bargaining chip.  A quick thank you text was sent as she heard the locks behind the door being flipped.  As the door opened, the most charming face would grace the features of the small woman.  “Agent Jade Kerrigan, FBI.  I’d like to speak with you for a moment, please.”  She stated, being welcomed into the man’s home as he eyed her suspiciously.  Once within the home, she was offered a seat, which she took, careful to appear as relaxed as ever in his presence.  “The investigation on today with Deputy King has turned up some interesting things on our radar.  Things we are more than willing to make go away, for you, if you deny pressing charges when you are approached to do so in the next… three hours, I would assume.”  She had the man’s attention fully as he lowered himself into the seat.  “It appears you have faced a bit of trouble with the law yourself, one situation in which has drawn the attention of the bureau.”  As she said just enough, the man was already shaking his head, quickly stating his innocence on the insurance fraud case against him.  “So here’s my offer to you.  You realize you stepped out of line today with Deputy King and admit his actions were justified, refusing to press any charges, and I will make sure the FBI looks no further into this matter.  You really do have a lovely home… so we have a deal?”  

Orion

The task had been completed in its entirety in about 10 minutes. A thick lather and a full wash. Assuring the smell of his body wash was clinging to him by the time he exited and dried off. Yet, with a new addition. A long series of several 3-4 inch vertical cuts along his ankles where his socks would hide and even horizontal longer scratches to his lower hips and thighs. Places they were all easily hidden as the blood ran onto the towel. Waiting for the clot total over as he brushed his teeth before he was getting dressed. Climbing into bed after letting Crash into lay with him. Unable to deny him much longer as he managed to drift off to sleep feeling worlds better with that release.

Jade

The shock painted on the face of the man before her was easily met with Jade’s smile.  A smile she rarely shared with anyone outside of Orion, and yet this man had drawn it out of her.  The nod of his head answered it all for her as she rose to her feet.  “You have been most hospitable to speak with me today.  Thank you.  I can see myself out.”  As she took those steps towards the door, she turned towards him one last time.  “Oh, and one of the conditions of course is that this conversation did not take place.  The bureau doesn’t like to meddle in district issues, but there is a time and a place, as I’m sure you understand?”  The man agreed their conversation had never happened as Jade made her way out the door.  Releasing a heavy breath once she was outside of the door, she made her way back to the car.  She might not have been able to reach Orion, but at least now she knew when she told him everything would be alright, it really would be alright.  A quick stop to grab their customary dinner for the assigned night and she was back at the apartment.  Juggling the bag of food with the key in the door, she entered to find silence within.  No dog excited at the door as he laid pathetically at Orion’s side.  He had failed and he knew it.  “Orion?”  She called out as she stopped there in the kitchen to place the food against the counter.  “I’ve got dinner.”  She continued on before realizing she should have been met by Crash by then.  Abandoning the bags at the counter, she headed for the bedroom where she was met with the saddest eyes from the dog as he cut them towards her.  “Crash?”  She asked, tapping her hand to her thigh, yet he wouldn’t budge.  “Crash, c’mere.”  She tried again, but still the dog would not move from his side.  Stepping within the room, she came to the side of the bed, taking a seat at the edge as she brought her hand to Orion’s upper arm, cautiously meeting his arm with her fingertips kept light against his shirt.  “Orion?  I have dinner if you’re hungry.”  Her words came forth in a whisper as she attempted to wake the man, a part of her needing to be sure he was okay based on the dog’s reaction there at his side, another part of her wanting more than anything to assure him his job was secured.  

Orion

Feeling the cooling touch find his arm, it managed to wake him up from that night sleep. Opening his eyes, glancing up towards her. Not moving away, not yanking away. He was fine even as he processed her words and felt the dog at his side. Pressing his face back into the pillow. "I have no appetite." He added truthfully against the pillow case.

Jade

With his words, she had expected as much to be honest, and yet she had brought the food there regardless.  It was a peace offering more than anything else, yet she understood his refusal.  As he pressed his face into the pillow, she leaned over him, a soft exchange of her lips at the back of his neck.  Without him flinching to her touch, she took it a step further, her trust growing again there in each moment beyond.  She needed to feel as though she had reign to touch him.  She needed to feel like they were okay even if the world felt as though it wasn’t okay to him at the moment.  She knew what it was like to have nothing outside of him.  Although he hadn’t faced that before, if there was anyone that could walk him through it, it was her.  Her kiss to the back of his neck was lingering, her fingers slightly caressing the curve of his arm.  “I need to ask you a question,” she whispered, pressing another kiss to his flesh as she gave a quiet intermission between her statement and the question.  “Do you want to be a cop?”  She asked.  After all she had pulled that day, posing as an active agent, interfering with a police investigation, negotiating on grounds she did not pull rank to negotiate upon, she needed to know if it was what he wanted at all.  If it wasn’t, she’d confess her sins to him, leaving him with the ability to step down willingly.  If he did want to continue his profession as it had been, she’d keep her mouth shut on that which she had done, allowing him to face the suspension knowing within just a short time, his phone would ring with confirmation of no charges, leaving him to face the suspension as a department penalty for his actions with the promise of reinstatement.

Orion

Closing his eyes, he felt her shift overtop of him. Not sure whether she was to touch him or smother him with his own pillow for how difficult he had been that day. Knowing full well it probably was not ceasing and for that he was tempted to apologize to her. Tomorrow he could, in retrospect. So he could apologize for the entire day and not just that half. Feeling her against the back of his neck, his eyes slowly opened. His sleep wear in tact, a pair of sweatpants, t-shirt and socks. His usual bed attire. As he felt her at his arm. No longer flinching away as he no longer felt the electricity jump from anyone’s fingertips, he lofted a tired brow at her whisper. Hearing her question broken with solely that kiss as he inhaled slowly. A moment of thought. A moment turned into two and even three. It wasn’t an easy question. “It’s like asking a stage 4 terminal cancer patient if they want to live. They want to live only because the only alternative is death and they know it is rapidly approaching. To a certain point, there is no option but to acknowledge your fate and say “I’d like to live but I know i’m not going to.’” he answered simply, not sure if that made any sense or not but he lacked the energy for the long rants as were his usual style.

Jade

The answer would more than suffice to effectively keep her mouth closed on the events that had transpired that day.  The truth would remain under lock and key.  She knew within hours the question would be posed to the one he had struck.  A short time beyond that it would be confirmed there would be no charges pressed and then Orion would simply serve a suspension without fear of termination.  If only she could tell him this now, she might save him the struggle, but there was something about it that she knew he must endure without the aid of a title flashing girlfriend agent stepping across the line on his behalf.  As he spoke, her lips continued placing a series of soft kisses to the back of his neck, keeping the conversation casual.  A rare form of pillow talk as her hand passed down his upper arm, fingertips grazing against his flesh with the tenderness that was always there.  As her hand found his, she slowly linked her fingers between his, her palm to the back of his hand, her fingertips curling against his own palm.  “I was an ass downstairs earlier.”  Her confession fell honestly from her lips as she pressed a kiss just below his ear.  “I tried to say what I wish someone would say to me.  But I forgot you aren’t me and I’m not someone else.  I should have been your girlfriend down there, your support system, and instead, I strong armed you and it wasn’t fair.”  She continued, stealing another pass of her lips to his neck every few words to soften the harsh reality of that which her words contained.  “One day, I want to marry you.  Badge or no badge.  You aren’t that badge.  You are you.  And I love you.”  Sentiment from the depths of her soul poured forth through the whispers of her lips against his flesh.  She had seen the error of her ways in how she had attempted to be of help previously, making no mention therein to the thing that had driven her to that distance; his flinch.  Taking it all upon herself, as she had lost her own control somewhere between the vehicle and the door to the building.

Orion

“Better.” he stated as she readdressed the situation and saw what he needed in reality. Not a drill sergeant, not a force of nature. He needed his girlfriend. In all of her tender affection, her nurturing nature. He needed to be babied for just a few moments to see him off the edge of the bridge. Hearing her continue her statement with wanting to marry him, he wasn’t quite sure why. After the transpiring of the days events, he couldn’t see what would be so appealing in her eyes yet he would not fight her. Just knowing that she deserved better than what he had to offer. “I love you too.” he returned as he felt her lips back to his neck. Eyes closing in an apparent comfort. Proof that it was not her touch he was not comfortable with. Just it had fallen so close to a single touch threatening to destroy his professional life. It hardly mattered who the touch had belonged to at that point.

Jade

As he seemed to relax a bit there, she drew her leg over him, her weight resting against his lower back as her hand tightened there within his.  The onslaught of soft kisses never fully ceasing as she brought her free hand against his shoulder.  Gently massaging at his shoulder, she withdrew her hand from his to join at the other shoulder, finally bringing the kisses against his neck to a tapered off halt.  Both hands now at his shoulders, she worked at the tension he had carried with him that day.  Quite satisfied with the acceptance of her apology, her hands continued against his shoulders.  “This could be our shot at Hawaii,” she reminded him, a jovial tone there in her voice as she knew otherwise.  “Aspen, Fiji, Spain,” each destination left her lips slowly as if to give him a moment to ponder them all.  Her therapy sessions could be put on hold.  They could easily ride out his suspension somewhere far away where the scenery would provide an ample distraction, allowing the two to explore places unseen by their eyes.  “We need some time, O.”  She offered, and how true it was.  The both of them had been working since day one, neither taking time off along the way.  Their professional drive stronger than most, and yet now they were both seemingly free for the time being.  No offices.  No emergencies.  In the time since she returned to Boston, Orion had a total of two days off, but even they couldn’t be truly considered off considering the calls he would still have to take in that time period.  “We’ll do them all.  Sunbathing in Hawaii to the slopes in Aspen.  Margaritas in hot tubs in Fiji and top it off in Spain where we will go to the most amazing site.  There, you’ll already know that I want to marry you, so you’ll ask me.  It won’t sound like a proposal to anyone else, because well, you have a way about you.  But I will know and I will say yes.  Then when we return, we’ll resume normalcy once more.  You in your office and me in mine.  Picket fences and a two-car garage.”  It hadn’t been long before they had talked about what they each wanted and she hadn’t been terribly specific, but now as her deft fingertips worked at every point of tension found against his shoulders and upper back, she let her thoughts flow freely without his eyes there to her own.  It was almost as if she were just speaking to herself as easily as the words came forth, uninhibited without much thought into the way they would be received.  Leaning over him, her hands eased to the back of his upper arms, continuing their way against the stress he wore.  Her lips finding the back of his neck again, clearly returning to the woman who had never been afraid to touch him again now as most every bit of her was in contact with the back of the man in some manner.  “It doesn’t have to be any of those places in particular, but somewhere or a few somewhere’s.  Places we’ve never been and we can experience them together, without stresses or work talk.  No deputy.  No agent.  We can just be people.”

Orion

Smirking as she went on an Orion-worthy rant of her own, he glanced back over towards her. Potentially the only thing that could make him smile. Telling him what she wanted, how she wanted it. Leaving him enough space between to work it all out as he felt her against his shoulders. He had known she was right from the moment that the suggestion left her lips. Now was as good a time as ever. The stars were aligning for somekind of get away. Yet as she continued, it sounded even more tempting. “Israel.” he stated simply, not the typical vacation spot yet the man had Israeli blood and he wanted to experience the place somewhere along the line. “I’d like to go to Israel…preferably last that way if I go off on somekind of newly fangled religious awakening that I won’t ruin the vacation with it…”

Jade

As he glanced back over her shoulder, she would come to the full realization the man was there, awake, and finely in tune to all that she had stated.  The smile to her features would instantly acknowledge true happiness as he not only accepted the idea, but offered where he would like them to visit as well.  “Perfect,” she assured, having to laugh at his mention of ruining their vacation.  “Where else?”  She asked as she slipped further back, her ass now positioned against his own as she drew up the back of his shirt with her hands, her kisses relocating against his clean flesh.  Letting her kisses linger as she made her way down his spine, her hands working to his sides as she continued her mission to completely relax the man.  Her own Italian blood would not draw her to Italy, yet she found true beauty in his desire to see that which he originated within.  This was geared to him.  He was the one with the flare for experience and knowledge which was beyond her, and yet she would be at her very happiest to be with him on that journey, not only experiencing these places for the first time, but seeing them through his eyes at the very same time.  “Colombia, Belize, Scotland, Madagascar?”  A few of her own suggestions, sticking with the non-mainstream path he had set forth before her as she continued to press her lips softly down his back, finding this method of both planning and stress relief to be quite satisfying for herself and hopefully for him as well.

Orion

Feeling her slipping under his shirt, part of him wanted to panic. He had those fresh cuts on his hips but they were far beneath the cut of his sweat pants and even his boxers. They would take hunting to find and if she got closer, he’d change the pace entirely. Realizing that before when he did that, he didn’t have to worry about her finding them. She didn’t see that far underneath of his clothes once yet now, it was different all together. Yet, the feeling of her hands in that moment was a little too good to be stopped. Enjoying it like a cat basking in the heat as he took in a deep breath, hearing her press for a location. “Italy…” the man suggested, possessing no Italian blood of his own but wanting to experience where her blood hailed. Not to mention Italy was something of a historical wetdream for anyone with an interested in it. Feeling her passing down his back with her trail of kisses. His own hands to his side allowing his fingers to drift to the side of her leg over his side.

Jade

A bite to her lower lip would take hold as he said he’d like to visit Italy.  Her mother and father were both born in the country, and yet it was only her mother she would think of when she heard the name.  A soft nod of her head would confirm it was added to their list.  “Italy,” she repeated, feeling his hand to her pant leg, drawing in a breath against his skin at the mere contact from him initiated by his own hand.  Her hands continued to work out the stress she could feel beneath his surface before they were moving back upwards to remove his shirt entirely, passing it up over his arms and head, revealing his back to her fully.  Tossing the shirt off to the floor beside the bed, she shared no more words as she pressed her lips to the back of his shoulders, heated breath falling against his flesh with each soft exhale.  Moving only higher, her hand slipped between the pillow and his face, turning him further over his own shoulder to meet her lips fully.  It had been too long since last she had shared a kiss with the man.  Bidding him farewell after her appointment that morning, she had met his lips, and yet when he clocked out, there was no such offering as it simply was not the right circumstance.  Now, it was.  Apologies had been issued.  Plans were being made.  The relaxation techniques she had attempted to use on him had proven to do well, and yet created a problem for her all at the same time as she grew hungry for his lips to hers.  Quenching that thirst, she kept her kiss soft to his lips, maintaining that which she had set forth with her hand staying between his face and the pillow, supporting the angle in which she would take up over his shoulder.  Inopportune positioning, yet unable to continue on without such an exchange.

Orion

Feeling her wedge between the pillow and his head, he allowed her to guide him back further after vacating his shirt. The woman that he had found when they had finally gone all the way as a couple was one that he continued to fall in love with all over again every time he saw her. She was still Jade outwardly. Yet these private moments assured him that her ability to take the reigns would keep him a very kept and happy man. Pressing his lips back to hers as she supported the position. Feeling her heat still over his back as his hand remained over her pant leg. Allowing his lips to fuse and envelope her bottom one as if he had gotten to the kiss first.

Jade

Just a moment at his lips would sustain her, or so she had thought.  Within just seconds of their lips meeting, she was easing off of his back to his side, her hand finding the back of his neck as she positioned herself before him where their kiss could be met without strain.  Her confidence in these moments growing by leaps and bounds as she suddenly withdrew from his lips.  Her eyes finding his as she eased back from him.  Leveling the playing field as her hands found the hemline of her shirt, lifting it upwards and free of her, discarding it there beside her.  Her movements were slow, calculated, done so with every intention of further relaxing the man with her own selfish desires mixed therein.  As soon as the shirt was free of her, she would sit before him but another moment before her eyes would leave his.  Drifting downward to his lips where she would draw her lower lip between her teeth.  Waiting him out.  Daring herself not to move.  Demanding that she not make a single movement towards him, not yet.  A short distance away, yet far enough it would take a real maneuver from one of them to get to the other.  Slowly, she would release her lower tier if only to whisper to him, ��Kiss me again.”

Orion

Feeling her slipping from his back to his side, meeting her eyes briefly before she was reaching for her shirt. Eyes slipping down to watch. Assisting her in any way he could before he caught that bite of her bottom lip. Pressing to his side before her demand which made him smirk. That hand at her pant leg gripping at her knee. Yanking her down against the bed and as she slid down into a laid down position. He was leaning over her from his side. Hand finding the side of her face as he pressed his lips firmly to hers without another moment of hesitation or needing to be told.

Jade

The swift move that rendered her on her back at the bed had caught her off guard.  She wasn’t prepared for it, making it all the more intriguing to the woman.  The man had a style of his own, a way to shape a situation, even if she had instigated it this time.  Her smile was stolen by his lips, drawing her focus to the way it felt for her lips to press fully to his with his hand against her face.  Her own hand mimicking that of his, drawing the pair closer together as she felt him over her, skin to skin.  Talk of vacations had ceased to give way to relationship goals all their own.  Doing it their way and only their way every step of the way.  A hum at her lips would speak to her satisfaction at his initiative to meet her request, knowing all the while he would have done so even if it had not been for her whispered invitation.  A long moment with her hand to his face and she would allow her hand to drift the space she had previously passed by lip and touch.  Fingertips ghosting over his form until they reached the waistband of the sweatpants he wore.  Drawing within, she would join her other hand to the other side, tugging gently at the fabric to draw them downwards as her lips remained to his.

Orion

Pressing his lips firmly to hers as the heat between the two began to pick up, enjoying it a little too much after the day he had. To just let go of it all and focus on her was a welcomed distraction yet the feel of her at his sweatpants was further reminder that this couldn’t happen. Not if he wished to retain that secret of his. He inhaled slowly at the feeling of her drifting fingers, not an unfamiliar sound for her considering it usually happened when he was enjoying something a little too much. Add that to the fact that he was being overrode with nerves at the idea of her finding what he had done. He had to come up with something quick even if all of him ached for this. His physical response would contradict anything he said verbally. Not knowing what to do with it at this point, he was left only with the idea of potential concealment. His free hand reached beside them for the blanket he had been sleeping within. Drawing it over them both, specifically his back without slipping from her at all.

Jade

As the blanket came over them, she withdrew from his lips, her eyes reflecting assured knowledge at his antics there.  “You, Orion King, are a romantic.”  She stated, quite recalling their first time of success being within the same cloak of that blanket that graced the form of his bed.  True joy shone through her eyes as she looked up at him, one hand vacating the waist of his pants in exchange for the side of his face.  If he were to ever wonder why she was there, it was in the little things.  Boxes of candy hearts shared, blankets drawn up over them, kisses that rivaled the greatest on screen award winners.  It was in all of those little things she would find the most joy within, as long as the man overtop of her was at the center of it all.  Lifting to his lips once more, she stole but a single kiss before her lips would find the curve of his neck, affording her the ability to return her hand to the side of his sweats, both hands working together to remove the fabric from his body as her lips continued on as though she had never stopped kissing his back minutes before.  Exchanging his concealment tactics for sentiment, he took her to another level entirely, one in which would ensure she would forever relate the two activities together; their first time and that blanket being drawn around them.

Orion

He saw the sentiment nearly as soon as the blanket draped over them, before she could even speak. He remembered and knew it well. Feeling almost guilty for it as he met the excitement in her eyes. He couldn’t lie to her. It was burning him up as he felt her at his neck. Furthering this as she worked down his sweats. He inhaled slowly as his eyes briefly closed, feeling her working over his neck before his brows furrowed. Voice nearly breaking as he spoke. That deep distinct voice of his facing the hardest thing he had managed to do all day. Knowing this would ruin everything but he couldn’t lie to the woman. Maybe she held a few of her own. Things she wasn’t entirely forthcoming about but this? He wasn’t a liar. He had to. “I need to tell you something.”

Jade

If someone had said anything he had to say would have stopped her, she would have called them a liar, and yet she knew his tone all too well.  All of the hormones in the world could not stop her from hearing it, cause her to miss it.  That tone was specific.  It was only used in very specific times.  He had something she wasn’t going to like.  She had a tone of her own, perhaps learned from him.  A way of prepping for bad news, such as the time she told him she was going away, unable to sell the Quantico lie to him as she had the others.  His tone ignited nervousness within her as she paused mid-kiss at his chest.  Wishing she could ask him to wait, and yet she knew she could not.  “What is it?”  She asked as she slowly leaned her head back against the bed, her eyes meeting his as the air was literally sucked from their sails.  Abandoning his sweatpants down around his knees, her hands found the sheets beneath them.  Drawing the fabric lightly within her hold, already preparing herself due to that tone of his.  “That’s not an ‘I love you’ tone.”  She stated honestly, as it was not.  Had he said the same words in a different tone, she’d still be at his flesh, adorning him with kisses, working towards giving him the ultimate stress relief.  And yet all within a tone of voice, he could stop everything and instill fear within her of that which he might have to say.

Orion

“Everything is an ‘I love you’ tone as I do love you…” he reminded her simply, cocking a brow. Hating that he had to stop that and his eyes reflected it as he glanced down towards her. Drifting to the bed for a moment. “and if you don’t want to continue after I tell you this, I understand…I wouldn’t blame you for it but…I, uh…earlier when…” his eyes flickered back towards her, having a hard time getting it out. “W-when I was in the bathroom, w-w-when Crash was freaking out?” he recalled, as if she could not remember it. “I did something I shouldn’t have a-and that’s what makes me nervous because I know you are going to see it like this and I can’t lie to you.” he reminded her. Hell, he couldn’t lie to anyone. Let alone the woman who knew him best out of anyone in this world as he felt his sweatpants now around his knees. Hand slipping up as he took a cooling breath, knowing he had to show her as he guided the blanket down. Boxers already riding low on his hips showing that they hadn’t protected the sight very well in the first place. Deep red yet thin and long cuts dragged vertically over his hips and down under the elastic of his waistband. Knowing she’d see just the top of the dozen or so cuts residing on each side. Glancing up to watch her reaction.

Jade

There was no doubt within the woman about the love he held for her.  She knew it well.  Though that tone was not an ‘I love you’ tone, hearing his profession of such had somehow turned it into an ‘I love you’ tone, only leaving her that much more confused and concerned.  As he drew back the blanket she had just enjoyed the presence of, his stutter would give away his emotions.  Focusing in on every word he was giving her, she nodded her head when asked about Crash.  He had been a lunatic earlier that day in not wanting Jade to leave, in wanting her in the bathroom with Orion.  At first she had fed into it, trusting the dog, until she realized the dog was out of his mind.  “Yeah…” she offered, listening as he went on, confessing to her verbally that he had done something.  As he eased the waist of his boxers downward, there was no way to hide the gasp at her lips.  Her hand quickly drew up to cover her gaping mouth as her other hand clenched the fabric of the sheets beneath her.  “W—“ A woman who never stuttered was now doing just that, attempting twice to get the word out of her, yet failing just beyond the ‘w’ sound.  “Why…” Confusion painted her features as she sat upwards with him there over her, her hand escaping her face to reach outward, drawing down the boxers at one hip to find the length of the marks.  Self harm. “Why would you… Crash knew… you wouldn’t…”  Clenching her teeth together, she was unable to complete a sentence, though her thoughts were complete.  Why would he do this?  Crash knew and tried to get her to stop him.  He wouldn’t let her in the bathroom.  A trembling lip would speak to her concern, though could easily be misread as disgust.  Finally, her eyes lifted back to his, abandoning the marks against him as she looked upwards to him.  “You hurt yourself…”  she whispered, her head easing to one side as she felt her heart ache for him.  Closing her eyes, she felt complete loss.  She had been there, and yet she couldn’t reach him.  He reached for a blade instead of her.

Orion

Watching her reaction, he tried in vain to understand. He couldn’t understand. What this face or that face meant. Until she spoke, he had no clue. He could only imagine it to be disgust though as she leaned up drawing him to press to his knees before her. Hearing her broken language asking why he would do this, was this a question that really needed to be asked? He couldn’t get it out anyother way, that was clear. He needed a release. Between the day he had and the idea of being a disappointment to her and potentially not being the cop that she wanted to marry. Yet, he was failing on words once again as he simply watched her. Knowing there was no excuse good enough nor would he dare tell her that she had brought such an idea to him. Even then, he loved her too much to allow her to think that she had brought him to this. To allow her a moment of guilt. He’d take the blame. “I just needed to let something out.” he explained simply as she closed her eyes. Still pressed to his knees as he drew his boxers back up over his hips. Not daring to mention the other ones in similar shape against his ankles as this had been enough of a revelation for one night.

Jade

The feeling of air escaping her was consuming.  His confirmation of why he had to do this had her drawing both hands together, trembling as one the way they had in the front seat of her car after he had retracted from her touch.  She had felt outside then, but felt even more so now.  “But I was here.”  She whispered, her eyes remaining closed.  “I was here and you could have… I would have…”  Still not managing to complete a sentence before him, she drew in heavily for air, finding none.  Lifting her eyes to open, there was no disgust within them, only sadness.  “I wasn’t here.”  She stated quietly, rising up to her own knees before him.  “I wasn’t here.”  She offered again as she brought shaky hands to reside at either side of his face.  “I wasn’t me.  I wasn’t what you needed me to be.  I wasn’t here.  I was an asshole.  I tried to give you courage and I deflated you.”  Working her way through it all aloud, her hands pressed firmly to his face as her eyes met his own.  Words singled the tip of her tongue as she realized she was the one who put that blade in his hand.  It might as well have been her hand to drag it across his flesh for him.  “I…”  She began, yet couldn’t get the words out.  “I…” another failed attempt would be cut short before finally she would get past the word.  “I need air.”  Her hands fell from his face as she made her way off that bed, scurrying to the window despite being in her bra and pants.  The woman known for her modesty pulled opened the curtains, then the window, she closed her eyes as she brought in the fresh air into her lungs several times over.  Before now, only Cael could draw this from her.  This desperation for air.  This time, it wasn’t Orion’s actions that would have her there at the window, but her own.  Her alter did not belong in this world.  There was no place for that version of herself in Boston and yet she had let it out.  After weeks of controlling it, she had let it reign for just a few minutes, strong and confident, so much so that she had turned Orion to this, or at least that was what she thought.  The one and only person in Boston she had been able to successfully find her way with again since her return, the only one she didn’t feel as though she was a liar with, the only one who knew where she had actually been and what she had endured, and she had let him down when he needed her the most.  Turning, yet remaining to the side of the window, tears stained her cheeks as she looked to him.  “Did you… did you do this before?  When I was gone?  Did you hurt yourself then?”  A question she never imagined she would be asking, and yet this singular situation would lead her to wonder if this had always been there and she had just never been in the position to need to know.  Wondering for the past six months if this had been there, or longer.  She’d never seen a cut on him before, and yet she’d never undressed the man regularly either.  She couldn’t judge much when it came to the last six months, as her own body wasn’t returned to him in the condition she left.  Even now, a few weeks later, she had yet to return to her previous form.  Her own version of self harm, controlling of nothing, so she would control the food she ate, partially for control and partially for complete disgust in the acts she would commit while away.  The both of them had stayed rather silent over their time apart, only assuring one another they had not betrayed the other, but now there were questions.  With hers asked, she would answer whatever he may have for her as well.  But the weight of it all had finally come to a head when she realized the man could physically harm himself with her right there and she not be the wiser.  She wanted to be his safe place.  His release.  And yet, she had stared at proof that it was not true just moments before.  She’d always known they were damaged, but perhaps she hadn’t realized just how much so.

Orion

Hearing her mention that she was there, perhaps physically but the woman he had needed had not been there. Obviously he’d never breathe this into the atmosphere but hardly a moment later she was figuring it out on her own. He wouldn’t speak, he couldn’t. He couldn’t lie to her and he couldn’t see her hurt. It was a difficult position to be within. Knowing he had done this to her out of his need to escape. Watching her get up for air, he recognized the signs of a panic attack yet all he could do was lay back down for the meantime. Laying on his stomach where he had been. Looking back up towards her as he had been minutes before, head tucked against the pillow. Hearing her question as he spotted her tears. He shook his head. “I did this before you were gone.” he assured, not quite answering that question and he wouldn’t. “This is nothing new for me, Jade. It’s just now that you can see it all right infront of you.”

Jade

Watching as he laid back down, a moment later his eyes found her own to answer that question she had asked of him.  A secret he had bore for how long now, and yet she would have sworn to know him best.  All of him.  Even the air that poured in the window did not feel as though it were enough, the walls feeling as though they were closing in on her.  The therapist had told her people would be different.  She would be different.  But he couldn’t have prepared her to find out there were things she had been blind to all along.  “You’re going to do it again?”  She asked, fearful that she might already know the answer to that.  Shaking her head quickly, she didn’t want the answer.  Instead, she’d take quick steps to the side of the bed once more, dropping to her knees to bring herself eye level with him.  Her hand grasping to his as she kept her eyes set on his.  She knew well if Orion were to find the same against her flesh and find that they had been there time and time again without his knowledge, he would have to feel similar to the way she did now.  She knew she failed him that day, but a million days before?  Before she was ever gone?  It didn’t make sense to her, nor would it.  So in an attempt to put it behind them, to move forward, to get to Italy and Israel and everything they both wanted, she would speak through the tears, appealing to him to meet her in the middle and allow her to be his support from that day forward.  “Me.  I want to be your release.  I want you to turn to me.  This time and every time before is gone.  But from here on out, I want that, all of it.  I don’t want there to be a part of you that I do not know and I never want to put the blade to your skin again.”  Her tears streamed down her face as she turned her head to her shoulder to wipe them away without losing grip on his hand.  

Orion

Hearing her question, he knew she didn’t want that answer. He was. He never stopped for too long. He could never hold it in inside for any amount of time. He’d burst. All that annoyance and anger and disappointment within himself. It was cancerous. It had to go somewhere and what better place than down the shower drain. He didn’t answer though. With or without that shake of her head, he already knew he would not. If only she knew the fact that he’d occasionally seek out other substances. Morphine. She didn’t need to know this one and he doubted she ever could. He couldn’t take the look on her face before he watched her drop to his eye level. Brows briefly furrowing before she spoke. Watching her wipe them away yet she had missed a stream in particular. Reaching up to brush away a spot she had missed. “Okay."

Jade

As he reached to her face, finding the moisture her shoulder could not erase, her eyes found his.  The stroke of his finger down her skin to wipe away a tear that would be followed by another and yet another.  His confirmation at his lips would stand as promissory to her, that from this moment forth, she was his release.  A responsibility she would bear with honor.  As much as she was asking something of him, she was asking something of herself as well.  She could not allow the alter to take over, even when she thought it right.  She must remain his Jade at all times, especially in the times he needed her the most.  Obligation filled her as she now held responsibility to him in a way she should have from the very beginning.  All was not lost.  The past was just that, the past, and the future held for them Israel, Italy, and white picket fences.  Gone were the days they faced anything on their own.  From this very moment forward, it was unified, and within that would awaken a love that she always knew she had for the man, just never having known it quite this strong.  His body being touched, to bleed, felt in some strange way that it was her own body that had been touched, that had bled.  A moment longer there at the side of the bed, knelt beside him, she rose upwards to slip into that small space between him and the edge of the bed.  Her own lips finding his as she not only told him that she wanted to be there, but showed him at the very same time as her tears continued voyage down her cheeks.

Orion

Feeling her slipping back into bed if only to access his lips, he leaned up to allow this. Slipping once more onto his side as his hand found the side of her face. Fingers grazing the back of her neck where his thumb rested to her jawline, feeling the moisture that resided from past tears only to be replaced and awash with the new ones. His heart broken due to making her cry in such a manner, he never wanted to be the cause of these tears. This mysterious saline solution leaking the corner of the eyes of those he deemed “normal.” He had never been familiar with them yet he knew what they meant and that was enough for him to not wish them for her as he pulled her closer into him. Arm slipping around her waist to assure the more full grasp.

Jade

Held within his arms, both the security of the one at her waist with the intimacy of the one at her neck, her tears would surely subside when enough time had been given.  For now, the shock was too strong.  Lucky for Orion, Jade was not one that would cry often.  It took something big to reduce the woman to tears.  Unfortunately, this was one of those times.  Drawing back from his lips, the rest of her remained still, her eyes finding his.  “When you hurt, I hurt.”  She offered, as it was quite true.  The both of them had been through enough in the time she was away, enough hurt to surely last a lifetime.  This part, this was supposed to be where it all came together, not fell apart.  “But you told me something.  Something I know was hard for you to tell me.”  A sigh fell from her lips as her eyes focused to the wall behind him.  “There’s a lot you don’t know either and you’ve been so good not to press.  But if you’re going to tell me, then I need to tell you, because fair is fair.”  She reasoned, resting her head against his arm as she weighed which to tell him first, finally opting to go with the present, as the past was just that.  “I went to see him.  The one you had your altercation with today?  He’s not going to press charges.  You’ll face a few weeks off and likely in the next few hours, your superior will be calling to tell you he isn’t pressing charges and give you a reinstatement date.  Turns out he has a few things he would rather not shine a Federal light on.”

Orion

Hearing her begin and that sigh from her lips, he almost did not want to know as her eyes drifted away from him. Recognizing that action all too well for it was one he used often enough when he needed to focus. Feeling her against his arm as he heard her speak about going to see the man. A moment of silence as he pieced it all together, cocking a brow in response. “So we are blackmailing people?” he asked, not liking the sounds of it at all given the shake of his head. The man had a rigid moral sense. One that haunted him in his darkest hours of having to help such hellions ruling the street such as his sister’s own boyfriend. “and you don’t think that has the capability to backfire on us? Whatever you have on this man, more than likely something concerning money, he can cash out millions by serving a civil suit on the city not just by me punching him but him being blackmailed.” he reminded her, not blatantly telling her it was right or wrong but pointing out this alternative. That there was never a safe method. “and then what? bribe judges? jury? when does it all stop?”

Jade

Knowing Orion’s moral sense and still speaking the truth to him should have spoken for her attempt at honesty.  He had given her something, told her the truth on something he knew would potentially bring her to tears, and yet had been honest with her, so she had done the same.  “He can cash out millions, but it will instantly be revoked in the millions he has already taken.  He will rot in a prison if he dares breathe a word of charges being pressed.  He has more to lose than he has to gain.”  She offered, giving him a glimpse at that which Flanagan had easily dug up on the man.  “I’m not bribing judges and juries.  It all started and stopped in a simple ten minute conversation.  I didn’t give him anything or offer him anything.  I simply was an agent, showing him how much worse his life would be made if he were to talk.”  Stating the fact she was an agent in itself was a lie she had given, but she knew she did what needed to be done.  “That’s why I asked you if you want to be a cop anymore.  You now have the choice in it.  If you want to be a cop, then everything is in line for you to be just that.  We go to Italy, Israel, and wherever else we please.  We enjoy this time together and then you return to the reality you want.  As a cop, if you wish, or not if you wish for something else.  I did it so you would have options and honestly?  It’s the least of my offenses over the last seven months.  It’s not a bad thing, O.  No one gets hurt this way.”

Orion

Hearing her return her plan, he glanced up towards the ceiling as his back hit the sheets. Hand scratching the top of his head. “Someone always gets hurt. No crime is victimless.” he reminded her, as that concept had never existed in the first place. There were always consequences. Karma would take grip inevitably and harshly but the seed was placed into the dirt. Now was the chance for it to grow. “But I’m going to do my best to step back and let you figure this out…” he offered with a nod of his head. “but for the meantime, if we are practicing honesty then maybe now is the best time to empty the dirty laundry…”

Jade

As he turned away from her, his back finding the bed leaving her to remain there to the edge, she watched him curiously as he mentioned leaving it to her to figure out.  She had already figured out what needed to be done and done it.  There was nothing more there to do.  Should the man press charges, he would face the wrath of an actual agent who was in possession of just the right information to take him down from the Federal standpoint, which would set things in motion out of her control.  The worst that would come would be her impersonation of an active agent, and if it meant Orion could have the world as he wanted it, it wasn’t an unfair crime to face in her eyes.  Hearing him continue, his words sent chill through her, causing her to sit up on the bed beside him, eyes drifting over his bare chest to find his eyes once more.  “Haven’t we had enough for one day?”  She asked, not quite sure what laundry he was referring to in his statement, now faced with her own need for a release after everything that had transpired that day.  “If there is more to speak about, I want to do so with your lips to mine.  Under a blanket, shielded from the world.  We can lay it all out there, but only if we promise we don’t stop in the mean time.”  Laying her offer out of the best way to discuss anything further, she slipped in closer to him, her hand resting at his chest as her fingertips softly stroked his skin.  “Kiss me, then tell me something, then kiss me again.”  

Orion

“I don’t have anything else…you said ‘the least of your offenses over the last seven months.’” the man repeated verbatim as she slipped back into him, feeling her at his chest as his arm slipped around her petite set of shoulders. Watching her and her terms. He wasn’t the one with the dirty rap sheet it seemed. Yet, if she wasn’t ready to talk about it, then he’d have to accept it. She should just know now that the surface had been breached. “If you’d prefer to talk about it some other time…we can but…it needs to be spoken about.” he repeated, brown eyes drifting over the sight of her. “I just want to know where you’ve been.”

Jade

As she came to realize he meant /her/ dirty laundry and not his, not even theirs, but hers in particular, her demeanor changed.  There had been a time not so long ago that he didn’t need to know, didn’t want to know, he wanted only to be assured she had returned to him untouched and that was enough, yet now it wasn’t.  “Where I’ve been…” she whispered as she withdrew her hand from his chest, not quite sure her terms of how they should air things would be able to withstand such things she would have to speak of.  Drawing in a deep breath, her eyes closed for a moment, he was asking her to go somewhere she had been fighting off.  He wanted insight to the things that haunted her dreams, to the very reason she feared therapy as she did, and yet he had asked.  The things she would speak of, should she do so, were things not even the government was permitted to know.  No one could know or her badge would be permanently gone from her hip and she would be facing charges all her own as she had stepped outside of the law during her time away.  “I…” She began, but didn’t quite know how to just speak of any of it, as it wasn’t something that should be spoken of.  Returning to her initial idea, the exchange of their lips, a spoken thought, followed by the exchange of their lips once more, she leaned over him, pressing her lips more firmly to his than before, as though she were drawing courage straight from within the strongest person she knew.  “I took eleven lives.  Two women, nine men,” she spoke before drawing her lips to his again, bringing her leg to draw overtop of him, returning them nearly to where they had been before as she distracted herself with his lips between phrases.  The agent was to have killed no one.  She was to have reported every death so that the family could be charged properly, but on that list there were eleven names missing.  Eleven people she had taken life from, some more brutally than others.  Some due to her quest to earn the respect of the Boss.  Others for fear of her own life if she were to be found out.  Others with no clear way to justify them.  This conversation could not be happening, legally or mentally, she could not handle the potential ramifications of it, and yet it did not change the fact that it was happening.  The risk there, that he might not see his Jade any longer, that he would see someone else had her gripped tightly at the throat.  Confessing something far worse than blackmail, although the counts there alone were many as well.  Her only excuse being that she needed to get home, doing what had to be done to take down the man who killed her mother, and return home with more blood on her hands than she ever thought possible.  Keeping her lips pressed firmly to his, she intended to continue on with the plan she had asked of him should this be his laundry, her hands finding the sides of his boxers as she kept the promise she had made in not stopping in the mean time.

Orion

Hearing her confession, he was not surprised. Truth be told, he had kept his ear to the ground with the case. Better than she realized. Hearing that a new woman on deck was creating quite a scene. He had known then, in his heart of hearts, that it was Jade. His Jade. The girl he had grown up with who feared killing insects. He knew it was not in her nature and as she delivered her confession, he was unrelenting. Both of them had done some things that did not belong to their character in their absence yet as long as she was the same to her core, he could handle her. Feeling her press her lips to his. Fingers drifting over her upper arm as he leaned into her kiss. Showing no backing down, No fear of her as he felt her hands against the sides of his boxers. His free hand reaching up where he brushed the back of his fingers down the column of her throat.

Jade

Half expecting him to turn from her on the admittance of that which she had done, she was quite amazed by the way it seemed he came into her more so.  His fingertips to her upper arm, the back of his fingers down her throat, she broke the kiss if only to arch her head upward, eyes closed as her face found the ceiling though her eyes would not take it in.  She had it all wrong and in such, he was able to surprise her.  Losing the ability to decipher if she should go on with her confessions or to stop there, she silenced, moving back from him if only to take up a place between his knees as she guided his boxers down.  Lowering her gaze, she found his scars, the marks against his flesh he had only confessed to her a short time before.  They did not startle her as they had before, half for knowing their existence, half for the fact she had shown him her own, though invisible to the naked eye.  A tiny hand wrapped around his piece as she remained situated between his knees, her eyes carefully set upon the motion of her hand stroking him.  Her mind flashed to drills, wrenches, hammers, the items she had learned to be far handier than a simple gun with a silencer screwed on, though there was a time for them as well.  An attempt to clear her mind would have her eyes on his flesh, taking in the now bare man visually as she sat before him still mostly clothed.  “You knew,” she whispered, as a slow smile of relief took her features.  He should have been taken back by the things she had just spoken of, and yet he was not.  Because he knew.  A tighter grip against him, the drawing in of her lower lip, feeling her own body temperature rise in the idea that he knew her demons before she was prepared to speak of them.  This was an exercise.  He needed to hear her say it, to put it in the open, and yet it explained why he carefully had lulled her to sleep so many nights without question.  He knew his Jade would be facing hell at that which she had done and just what the hell had looked like.  

Orion

Watching her, he didn’t know quite what to expect of the woman yet as she drew down his boxers, he was prepared to let her surprise him. Surprise him she always did  as he lifted his hips, allowing them to go. A hundred times more comfortable infront of her as he once had been. His former self refusing to let this happen outside of a blanket yet her hand seeking him out would have shut him up even if he had a complain. Breath catching as she did so. Stroking him and rapidly seeking a reaction out of him that was quick to respond. Even her eyes upon him would not make him fly off the hand with insecurity. He heard her whisper, he nodded. Even more surprised to see that smile. He did know. He had known. “You didn’t really think I was going to let you go out without a safety net, did you?” he asked honestly. Thumb stroking over her chin.

Jade

As his thumb found her chin, her smile remained in tact.  She had been through a hell she could not put into words and yet now, in hindsight, knowing he was with her at least in the manner he was, was all of the comfort she could have needed to lay those dreams to rest.  It also meant he knew things, other things.  Could he know the first one was hard for her, but beyond that she found she was good at it?  She had a trusting face, unsuspectingly so.  By the last one, she had been pulled from the body, having to be told it was done and she could walk away now.  She loved nothing more than to take the life of the lowlife, finding it all too easy to visualize a man who had hurt her, time and time again.  It wasn’t in the act that she would feel the remorse, but in the hours she would lay in bed, staring at a ceiling that was not her own, reliving it over and over again, with the person’s face engrained into her mind.  Even in Orion’s own bed, their faces would haunt her, and yet in the moment, she had felt nothing but her mission.  She couldn’t know just how much he knew or had been made aware of during a period of time the world believed her to be teaching a training course at Quantico, but regardless, knowing now that he was with her made all of the difference in the world.  At the touch of his thumb to her chin, she leaned forward, stealing his lips with a fire that was unlike the woman.  With nearly everything out in the open, there was relief within, bound by their agreement to be one another’s release beyond this day.  Her lips fused to his, her hand continuing with his piece in her hand, stroking upward as she drew her thighs to part at his hips, straddling over top of him.  Tearing her lips free before he could get comfortable with them, she drew in a deep breath.  “Tell me you’ll never let me go again, with or without a safety net.”

Orion

As she slipped overtop of him, the surge of blood would come as no surprise to the woman as she came to life in his hand. His own hands finding her bottoms to even the playing field. Unfastening the restraints as she tore her lips from his. Meeting her eyes as she did so. “Not a chance.” he assured her simply, as he had already decided that long before. If she could resist him putting his foot down, then that would be it for the two. Both of them knew the stakes yet both of them also knew that separation could not happen again. Both had too much at stake that neither could stand to lose.

Jade

As his hands took to her waist, unfastening the jeans that bound her, the words from his lips would ignite her.  The smile that took her face was one that would reflect pleasure with his agreement not to let her go again.  Her responsibility to him as great now as his was to her, embarking on life their way as they always had, perhaps knowing one another a bit more now than they had when they entered that room.  He was able to hurt himself, and thus her at the same time.  She was not above blackmail and murder.  Once her pants were unfastened, she bravely stood above him, looking down at the man as he remained erect of her own hand’s doing.  Easing the pants downward, she stepped free of them before returning to her knees between his own where she had begun.  Watchful eyes took to him as she slowly lowered her head, her hand taking upon his cock once more, her touch softer as she gave the attention to him as she had not before.  A place that had once terrified her now attracted her more and more as the days went on.  Each time she would grow a little braver, a little more confident, giving way to this moment where she would bring her lips to kiss the head as her eyes looked to his past the landscape of his own body.  Parting her lips, she eased her mouth around him, never breaking her eyes free of his as she sought evidence in his eyes that what she was offering was satisfying to him.  Her hand taking to the lower as her mouth surrounded the upper, each motion uncertain and careful as her free hand drew for the blanket behind her to draw it up and around her own shoulders. Tempted to draw it further, yet not brave enough to kill the visibility to his eyes until she became more certain of her actions which seemed to grow in possibility every passing moment.

Orion

Watching her as she slipped down his body and over what she had created for herself, his eyes watched hers. Cracking her a quick smirk to give her what she was after. The knowledge that she was welcomed as his hand ventured to the back of her neck. Fingertips delicately caressing the flesh just under her hairline. Feeling her guiding that blanket over them. Understanding what it meant as that blanket had helped them quite a bit in this exploration process. Gradually needing it a bit less each time. Teeth finding his bottom lip as he felt his body responding to her with slow surges of pleasure through him. The response was evident if she was looking. Deeper more filling breathing, intensified muscle tension and the way his eyes concentrated on her entirely as if she was his latest article of obsession.

Jade

The proof was written all over the man as she watched him closely.  She’d not bring the blanket up fully until she was sure, but now she had all the proof she needed within the look in his eyes and his hand to the back of her neck.  Drawing that blanket up completely, she broke all contact with him visually, trusting now fully that he would speak or stop her should something not feel right.  Quite ironic considering the tales she would hear another speak of her and her skill set below in her time away, knowing damned well she had never, though it was convincing when it needed to be.  But now, as she took the man within the confines of her mouth, tasting of that flesh for the first time, she would do so with no such skill set or knowledge of what might feel good to the man.  It had been brave to go there, but to go with no idea how to satisfy him might have been considered less than smart.  Under the cloak of the blanket, she would experiment, drawing upward as she sucked against him, creating tension in her maneuver to break free, yet she would not allow him to pass fully from her lips.  Relying wholly on the sound of his breathing to tell her to continue or to try something else.  Repeating the same action once more before she would allow her tongue to massage against him as she drew him within her mouth again.

Orion

Luckily for them, Orion's own experience outside of her bed was limited at best. With a bit more experience but not enough to render him experienced, he felt her slip under the blanket. Knowing this would be a matter of experimentation, he trusted in her and allowed himself to be the test subject. Trusting her to know the very simple don'ts of this all. Anything she wouldn't want involved on her own anatomy. Yet, the warmth of her mouth left him speechless. Fingers drifting up into her hair. Eyes that had been watching the blanket now closing as he felt her tongue.

Jade

The encouraging hand of his making way into her shorter locks, she took it as such for her to continue on.  The slow passage now increasing slightly as she guarded her teeth from any form of contact, tilting her head to the side.  Coming off of him completely, she gave pause, counting within her mind to a number before she would suddenly take to him again as though she had never parted from him.  Teasing him.  Making him wonder when he would feel her warm mouth surrounding him again.  A smile took her lips as she counted again, this time to a different number before taking him within the confines of her mouth.  Her own game having effects on her as she felt the warmth between her thighs leaving mark at her undergarment.  Finding it to be strangely satisfying to please him, yet to not be touched in the same manner.  Easing off of him a third time, her lips would find his inner thigh, kisses laid in her quest to find his piece once again.  With no true idea of what she may or may not be doing, she allowed pure playful instinct to take over as she drew kisses up his length where she would once again part her lips with a pleased hum at her own tactics, sending vibration through him carelessly.

Orion

Feeling her taking to a pace of her own without direction, he was more than happy to find she was feeling so comfortable with him and this task. With no pressure from him. Surely by her own will power sending his fingers through her hair. Her hum sending the pleasing yet different sensation through him as he inhaled. A little more pleased with this all then he'd admit to once before this all began after the departure of her lips to his thigh. Raking his fingertips over her scalp.

Jade

All at once the desire to see him was too great to hold her beneath the fabric any longer.  Tearing it back quickly, she drew in the air of the room, finding the chill there as she had left that window opened before.  Her own body perspiring from the weight of the blanket and that which she had enjoyed beneath.  Her hand continued at his cock, not stopping despite the fact she had lifted from him.  Her eyes found his as she drew another breath.  “More?”  She asked, directly giving him the option as she was willing, yet uncertain for how long he would want her in that manner for.  Drawing her head downwards, tempting that which she could offer him now, finding a confidence there she didn’t know she could have, rewarded by the manner in which his breathing would change.  

Orion

The odd combination of hot and cold left him somewhere between as she slipped up from the blanket. A loaded one worded question as he watched her tease. He smirked softly "if that is what you want." He stated, reminding her that the power to stop or continue was always hers. He'd enjoy himself regardless as his fingers guided back her hair. Knowing it to be shorter than it had been but still a bit of nuissance.

Jade

With all control given to the woman who lacked the experience to properly know what would please him the most, she took the path of closest proximity, returning to the place she would gain the most knowledge from.  Her lips parted to surround him once more, no longer able to play teasing games as she had beneath the cloaking of the blanket.  Now left to draw her eyes up his body, drawing her head up and down his length as she increased that pace she had previously found.  The hum he had responded to returned to her lips, this time intentionally so.  Her hand remained to stroke the parts of him she could not bring within her mouth, working as an extension of that which she could offer him.  Her free hand to his inner thigh, gripping at his flesh as she vowed to continue until stopped.  As she drew up, she would free him from her mouth if only to draw her tongue around the head of his cock before suddenly coming back down over him.

Orion

Knowing the overachiever in her would go until he told her not to, he didn’t think she’d have to worry much about that. He’d be stopping her when he wasn’t sure he had the willpower to keep the inevitable from happening and he wasn’t attempting to damage her this early in the game. His fingers underneath of the curtain of her hair massaged to the back of her neck as his teeth kept to his bottom lip. Gnawing gently at that flesh as he kept his eyes on her and her actions. Smirking softly as that return of pleasure would never quite grow familiar to him. Much less the idea that he had been allowed such or allowed himself such but taking it in and knowing he’d return her such.

Jade

The grip of his hands massaging the back of her neck was nearly enough to make her stop and just enjoy the feeling of the man relaxing the tension out of her own body as she had his not too long before, and yet she would not give into the selfish desire that flashed within her mind.  Instead, she would focus her eyes to the way he bit his lower lip, studying it, memorizing it, as she wished to make him bite harder.  As she continued drawing him within her mouth only to tempt him with potential freedom to rob it from him once more, she brought her hand from his inner thigh, fingertips drifting over the marks where this had all began.  Acceptance was not an easy task for the woman as she had faced it many times over in her life in matters she did not like.  There came an age that she would accept nothing any longer, instead locking herself away from it all.  But with Orion, there had been several points of acceptance flowing in both directions.  His scars were worn against his flesh while hers were invisibly held within her.  She hoped this would be the first and last time she would find those lines against him as the mere sight of them were proof of her own shortcomings as his mate.  For as long as they were within her sight, they would stand as reminder that she must be more to him than she had ever been before.  Pressing her palm against the marks, she brought her eyes back to his, now drawing him deeper within her own throat, daring to find just how much of him she could manage there.  Her knees drawn up beneath her at her chest, she rocked down against him, flashes of determination through her eyes.  

Orion

Feeling her passing over his cuts, still too early to be called scars yet the marks might be left. He had a pretty good after care routine that typically prevented the scars unless he cut too deep. Having it down to a science by this point. The action should have turned her off yet she still seemed to nurture him as he felt her hand at his hip before she was drawing deeper down him. Exhaling a deep breath as his fingers tightened against the back of her neck. Knowing he couldn’t allow it much longer but willing to allow a few more seconds just to see what all she felt comfortable with doing before he’d rudely interrupt her with the nature of the task and will her back to him.

Jade

As his hand tightened at the back of her neck, she pushed herself further and still further with each descent she would make against the man.  He seemed to be enjoying it and therefore she would not stop, even if her jaw was beginning to throb at the repetitive nature of her self assigned task.  Returning that hum to her lips again, her lower hand eased to his hip opposite of her other, now pushing herself forward unaided by her hand below, determined to attempt to take in more of him.  Her throat would not allow such, and yet her effort was still there.  An accidental breath outwards simultaneously occurring with her movement downward would show her the way as her throat expanded, allowing him passage within.  The gag that would follow would cause her to draw off of him completely, bringing in a deep breath as she held herself over him, willing the reflex not to draw forth with it.  In the absence of her mouth, she brought her hand back to his hardened piece, using just her hand to work the full length of the man as she had simply pushed herself too far, too fast.  “I’m sorry,” she offered between breaths, having not wanted to stop there, but now fearing if she were to take him in again, she might not be able to hold back and thus take an intimate time between them, already interrupted once, and make it to where neither of them would ever permit her to be there again.  Instead, she would lean over him, pressing her lips to his upper thigh as she watched her hand still steadily working at him where she had left off.

Orion

It wasn’t a horrible time for what had happened to happen in all fairness, hearing her apology, he shook his head. “Don’t be sorry.” he stated honestly, feeling her against his thigh and her hand not missing a book as he slipped his own hand over her forearm. Teeth pulling from his lip as he took in a deep and steadying breath of his own. “Was about to interrupt you anyway.” the man confessed as his fingers curled around the wrist of her free hand. Attempting to guide her back up towards him.

Jade

When the man spoke, her eyes glanced up to find his, meeting his apology with thankful eyes.  The grip at her hand would have her stopping completely, feeling him tug her upwards where she easily moved over him.  With one knee remaining between his, the other to the outside of his thigh, she hovered near his lips as she offered him a small smile that was notoriously only shown to him.  “You were going to interrupt me… because you were close?”  She asked, inquisitive and pride filled eyes that she could be the cause of such a thing.  Bringing her hand to rest against the side of his face, as if denying him her lips in the manner in which she did not offer them, she played a game as she allowed simply her eyes to work on the man, to see just how long it would take before he would have no other choice but to kiss her, touch her, take her.  

Orion

“Mhm…” eyeing the pride in her eyes, he smirked softly as he felt her against his face. Eyes slipping down briefly where his hands found the sides of her panties. Dragging them down as the two seemed in a stand off that only their eyes could convey. Leaning in where he tempted her, nose nudging hers as he kept his eyes locked to hers. Playing along, allowing his lips to get close to hers. Nearly touching but stopping just short. Fingers dragging her panties down her hips. “I love you.”

Jade

A game of her own design, stolen and mastered by the man beneath her, she met his eyes with the ounce of seduction she was rather sure she did not possess.  The nudge of his nose to her own would be met with her eyes falling closed, prepared for him to take her lips.  When he did not, but instead she felt him easing her panties down past her hips with his sentiment of affection spoken to her, she allowed her eyes to open once more.  Set on his hues as she allowed herself that much closer for her response.  “I love you.”  She stated, her lips barely brushing his as the words formed against her lips.  Continuing the stand off now that she was aware it would flow both ways.  The first weeks of such intimacy had been a different story entirely.  But now, she was growing comfortable.  She was finding herself desiring him in the times they were apart.  This door they had finally managed to come through was controlling her thoughts and dreams far more often than she would be willing to admit.  Now, they could play.  Now what was once terrifying had become a playground of sorts.  Tilting her head to the side, as though she would close that miniscule gap between their lips, her teeth would steal her lower tier, visually holding herself back as her fingertips brushed his cheek.  “You want to kiss me.”  She whispered, shifting her hips to allow the passage of the fabric to free her form.  “But, you can’t.”  She added, turning her head to the side, cutting her eyes towards him with assurance of her win brightening her hues.

Orion

Hearing her return it, he smirked lowly to her lips. That phrase could get him through World War 3 itself. As long as she loved him, he was immortal. He believed that truly and utterly. hearing her statement though as she turned her head, he couldn’t help but shake his head. “So you think…” he added, a playful nip of his teeth to the shell of her ear as her panties were drawn down her legs to her knees allowing him to lean up on his own. Higher on his knees then she was on hers as he was playfully and promptly guiding her onto her back with one swift motion, slipping overtop of her. Nose nudging to hers once again to tempt the tide.

Jade

“So I know—“ she returned as he drew up before her, his stature affording him more height than her own.  As he guided her down, she went easily, laying back against the bed as he came over her.  As he repeated the nudge to her nose, she would not fall for it this time.  Her eyes would remain opened, her lips off limits to him at her own proclamation.  Losing the upper hand, she already knew she would lose the game, but it would stand to be her greatest loss to date.  “Do you want to kiss me?”  She asked, her playfulness lacing every word.  They had been through an emotional roller coaster together and apart that day, facing things neither of them ever wanted to face, and yet now they did not look the part at all.  She had offered herself as his release beyond this day and fully intended to show him there were far greater ways to do so than that of dragging a blade across flesh.  Bringing her hand to return to the side of his face where it had been before he landed her on her back, her thumb traced his lower lip as she allowed her eyes to drift there as well, tempting him with touch as much as she was with her eyes.  If she were to lose this game, she would not go down without a fight.  Temptation wafted between the two and it would simply be a matter of who gave in first.  

Orion

“I do.” the man confessed, surely not the last time he’d say those set of words to her and they both knew it. Smirking softly at the playful nature, hardly growing offended by it. Knowing the two would play this game until they couldn’t any further. Feeling the tension heightened between them as his hand found her side. Anatomy aligned with her inner thigh, knowing she could feel him but he was no longer as schoolboy bashful about it as he once had thanks to her. “But you’re going to kiss me first…” he stated, seeming like he had a reward behind it if she went with it.

Jade

The confession of his desire to kiss her was music to her ears, as if she hadn’t already known.  She knew he wanted to kiss her just as much as he had to know she wanted the very same thing.  As he gripped her side, she naturally lifted to that touch.  Just as she had made him more comfortable in his present state, he had done the same for her over the years of trial and error in this department.  This time, lying beneath him in nothing more than her bra, she knew there would be no trial and error to this or any future meeting of the two.  They would all be successes; it was just a matter of who might win this round.  As he suggested to her that she was going to kiss him first, a laugh broke at her lips.  Rare as it was, it was there as she drew a hand up over her mouth to contain it as she wasn’t quite sure it had a place in that room in that moment.  When finally it had subsided, she withdrew her hand from her mouth, her lips still tempting that a laugh could come forth again at any given moment as she questioned him both with her words and her eyes.  “Oh am I?”  She asked, the light easily shining through her eyes as he had truly managed to work together with her to put the past where it belonged and find something to remind them of truly how good they had it in the present.  “And if I don’t?”  The playful inquiry never too far off this time as she lifted her chin slightly, still not giving in and clearly not initiating the kiss they both seemed to covet so highly.

Orion

Watching her laugh, his smile was caught from the contagion. Just watching her genuinely amused. He'd kill for that. He nodded at her inquiry and felt her lift. "You are...you are going to want to...because I got an idea you are going to want to hear but you can only make good on it if you kiss me first..."

Jade

And with just that alone, her eyes would gleam towards him.  An idea, of his own creation, and then the light was gone.  “You are cheating, Orion.”  She proclaimed, a fake pout at her lips.  He knew she wouldn’t be able to resist, and yet used it against her.  “Completely unfair.”  She stated, maintaining that pout for as long as she could.  “Okay… but if I kiss you… there had best be an idea ready at your lips when you break free of me, for if there is not, it is punishable by death.”  She teased, her smile breaking the fake pout as she lifted her head the smallest bit to allow her lips to meet his.  Her plan had been to offer him but a peck, but only a moment at those lips would not ever be enough.  In the first moment, her lips were soft, barely there, but the familiar hunger would take over, permitting her arms to join around his neck, drawing her upper body against his as her lips pressed firmly into his own.

Orion

   “I have an idea for you.” he assured her, he’d make good on that promise as she pressed her lips to his. Feeling that soft kiss that would hardly suffice for him. He’d have to intensify it but she took over for him. Pressing his lips back firmly to hers as his free hand found the side of her face once again. Thumb pressed to her chin as he drew his tongue over the part of her lips. Asking for that inevitable invitation as his free hand smoothed down her side. Lingering over her hip with smooth sweeps of his drifting fingertips.

Jade

His assurances were all too satisfying to her, even if they were empty on the other end.  Finding that words were immensely underused between them before, she quite liked the thought of promises to come.  Feeling the sweep of his tongue, her lips parted to him, her own tongue crossing the threshold to meet his waiting there for her.  An intoxicating taste that would race through her, driving her to forge her lips to his, creating space for the intermingling of their tongues together.  His travelling hand was not missed by her as she tightened her grip around his neck, her hip lifting where his hand passed.  Anxiously awaiting his idea, and yet not willing to break that kiss to ask what the idea was.  It would have to wait, as for now, she was somewhere else entirely.  Her mostly bared skin pressed into his, tongue circling his own, in a kiss she didn’t bear the power to break.

Orion

Passing his tongue over hers, he knew his idea would be pleasing to her with the days events. All that had been discussed. All they had gone through. Yet, he was in no rush to stop what he had been given. A gift. His gift. Passing his hand over her lifted hip, he inhaled deeply through the gentle power of that kiss surrounding him in waves. Happy to allow this to wage on.

Jade

Feeling him draw air through her own lungs, it was not lost on her the manner in which they had found their way through yet another tumultuous day and situation.  There were still details and uncertainties, as there always seemed to be, but when all else was in the air and beyond their control, center was here.  Her lips fused to his, their tongues twisted together in the space created by their joined mouths, she felt the passing of his hand over her hip only causing her to draw her leg around his waist lightly.  Her bra the last remaining article of clothing between the two, she eased slightly to her side, drawing her own hand to her back to unlatch it, but did not slip it free completely.  With the lax in the fabric, she eased her arm forward, that hand drawing up to the side of his neck as she allowed pure relaxation to take over her body at the intoxication his kiss provided.

Orion

Reaching up for her shoulder after she had gotten the back of her bra, finding the strap lax as he guided it down one of her shoulders. The other slipping forward as a result as he guided it down her arms the best he could given the position. That hand slipping up for the side of her face a moment later as the other remained against her hip. Cradling her as their lips remained fused for the most relaxation all while harvesting this seemingly deep rooted suggestion dwelling within him.

Jade

The movement of the strap down her arm was just distracting enough that she would bring her hand from his face to slip her arm through before she felt his own hand taking up residence in the place she had taken against him moments before.  Slowly massaging her tongue against his as she brought it back from his, she drew her lips closed against his own before drawing back only to press her lips to his own again.  Briefly so as she withdrew completely, leaning her head back against the pillow as she felt the pressure of his hand to her face.  Several deep breaths took her as she attempted to come down from the heights his kiss took her for, entirely too affected by his kiss, the very one she had attempted to withhold from him in the first place.

Orion

Feeling her pulling back from him as the pecks subsided slower and slower each time, his eyes opened as he caught wind of her deep breathing. Thumb pressing down her jawline as his head lifted. Pressing his lips to her forehead and allowing them to linger before he was pressing his face to the side of hers. Forehead to her temple. He loved the woman a little too deeply he had begun to believe. He had always said he felt nothing 95 percent of the time but the 5 percent he did, made up for the rest. Yet, for her, he always felt something. It had taken time. Years upon years, but he’d be damned if he wasn’t both grateful and fearful about the way he had connected and latched to her.

Jade

A kiss to her forehead brought forth a smile to her lips.  His love for her was evident and highly reciprocated, though she’d never feel she could express it enough.  The girl was lost without him, as he was the only balance she had it seemed.  This day had brought with it an array of ups and downs, yet her every step and action would be for him or for them in some manner or another.  His love was screamed to her in the way he touched her or allowed her to touch him, in the way he pressed his lips to her forehead.  Leaning slightly against that touch of his forehead to her own temple, her eyes fell closed as she enjoyed just that quiet moment between the two as they breathed one another’s scent.  “Tell me?” she finally requested in a quiet, raspy whisper, turning her own face towards his, pressing her forehead gently to his.  “Tell me what your idea is?”  Her question just as hushed as the first, her hand finding the side of his face once more as she kept her eyes closed, her leg wrapped around him, nearly every part of her touching him in some way as light strokes of her fingertips found his jawline.

Orion

Hearing her question, his fingers flirting down to the side of her leg as he met her eyes. Smirking as he was prompted for it. Lips briefly tightening as if he was wimping out of it now but knew he had dug his own grave. He cleared his throat, eyes slipping down to nothing in particular as he pulled his head back just enough to meet her eyes once again. “I was thinking that maybe if you’d like to…make this trip we are planning into a honeymoon of sorts, we could go to the courthouse and…no one has to know, I mean unless you want someone to know but I think my sister would be mad about her not being there in the end but it’s not about anyone else. Just us.” he suggested, eyes cautiously watching hers for any sign at a response as if he could read it in the first place.

Jade

“Are you asking me to marry you, Orion King?”  She asked, her voice displaying the surprise she felt within as she thought she had laid out the proposal to be at the end of their vacation together.  Finagling her arm out from around his neck, she brought it to the side of his face, to mirror the other already in place there as she met his eyes, her smile remaining firmly in tact.  “I will go to the courthouse with you, and I do not need a single soul to be there.”  She assured as she stole a kiss to his lips.  “And I will marry you and I would very much so like this trip to become a honeymoon.”  She added, stealing yet another kiss.  “But, only… and I mean only if… you ask me proper.”  She stated, nudging her nose playfully to his as she would put him through that ultimate torture now that he was assured of her answer.  She loved his manner in approaching things, never quite ordinary and always in his own manner, but if she was going to be proposed to by the man, naked in his bed, then she would urge him to give her the official words every girl dreamt of since they were a little girl.  A convincing kiss offered to the man, she drew back to meet his eyes once more, a nod of her head as she drew her lower lip between her teeth.

Orion

Pressing his lips back to hers, thinking he was quite out of the woods before he heard her ‘but.’ He cocked a brow, only able to wonder what this ‘but’ would be as he heard her answer. Not exactly thinking this was the “dream” proposal after all. Yet, the two had never done things like anyone else and never would. They couldn’t stand on ceremony now and start. His eyes shifted over hers as she seemed to await his question. “Will you marry me?” he delivered, willing to give for her sake though his heart was still racing as if she’d withdrawal this answer of hers and change it.

Jade

“Yes.”  Without a moment’s pause, she knew she had tortured the man enough.  She wouldn’t make him wait for her answer as the nod of her head had already assured her answer to get the question posed to her the way she wished it to be.  A moment beyond her promise to do so, she was there again at his lips, firmly fixing her lips to his as one hand abandoned the side of his face to slip to the back of his neck.  Wrapped in him, she drew back to reveal that smile still to her lips as he had managed to turn a hellacious day, and a torturous six months, into the greatest surprise ever.  “But,” she offered, as though there were something more she needed from him.  “Will you marry ME?”  She asked.  The question was quite unneeded, as he wanted to do so if he had posed the idea in the first place, but as it was with every other step of their relationship, she would continually keep the options open flowing in both directions.  Just as it had been as they attempted closer levels of intimacy, as well as when he asked her to move in with him, she would forever check to assure his state of comfort was met and hopefully handled with the utmost care every step of the way.  Her brows lifted, the bite to her lower lip returning, reflecting that she might be nervous he could now withdraw the proposal entirely.

Orion

“I’m pretty sure I can’t just marry you…seems like one of those things that are a two way street.” the man hummed, maybe just a shot in the dark because what did he know about marriage? But hell, he definitely wanted her to marry him and he to marry her in return. “But sure…we’ll both marry one another…” he suggested, leaning in where he kissed at her bottom lip in attempt to relieve that bite she was causing herself.

Jade

His words drew a smile from her, though it would not steal the bite she had on her lower tier.  As he kissed it away, she met his lips fully before withdrawing completely.  “It’s settled then.”  She offered, as if it were an arrangement before laughter would strike the woman.  Pushing against him, she forced him to his back where she’d straddle over top of him.  “If I’d known withholding my kiss from you would make you want it forever, perhaps I would have withheld it a long time ago.”  She teased, finding the side of his neck with her lips for a soft taste of the man’s flesh.  “But now… do we rush off to the courthouse…” she began before breaking her question to press a kiss against his jawline.  “… or do we stay here just a little bit longer…?”  Her question was posed flirtatiously, passing her lips in that whisper of hers as if she had already determined the answer.

Orion

Feeling her pushing him back, he allowed her to slip over him. He shook his head upon the suggestion as he felt her at his neck. “No, I don’t think so.” he stated, trying to get himself out of that knowing it was a rabbit hole he didn’t want to fall down. One she’d return to as he heard her speak, jaw clenching in a smile at her question. Of which she already knew the answer as his hands passed down her hips as he gave up a shake of his head. “No, I’m pretty sure the judge would have an issue with showing up to the courthouse with an erection, might seem like someone is being forced into something against their will in exchange for services rendered.” he teased as that was hardly the case but he could only imagine the scenario.

Jade

The kisses laid against his jaw would be interrupted by her smile as he seemed to be drawing it from her on a regular basis now.  A girl who rarely ever smiled found herself taken by it time and time again since her return to Boston.  “But as it is now, could it not be argued that you’ve asked me to be your wife just to assure your erection is handled?”  She asked, knowing well the same could be said for the yearning within herself as she needed his cure for such.  Her lips made passage from his jawline to just below his ear where she would pause again if only to allow her teeth to graze the lower curve.  “I suppose we should wait until after,” she whispered, allowing what had been a gentle brush of her teeth to take a firmer form as her teeth found that shell of his ear.

Orion

"No, considering we had the understanding that my erection would be handled whether I asked or not." He pointed out,  feeling her at his jawline. Inhaling deeply as he felt her at his ear. "Wait for the courthouse until after, I hope you mean..." he added with a reassuring nod as his hands smoothed slightly impatiently over her sides.

Jade

The bite against his lower ear, though soft, was broken as he suggested clarification to her statement.  She drew back, shifting her hips against him slightly.  “Yes, definitely after.”  She assured, a hopeful smile to her lips as she used the friction between them to satisfy herself for the time being.  “And you will have me again after.”  She assured as something flickered through her eyes.  “Make love to me after I become your wife, but right now… I want…”  She found trouble there in the words of her request, not sure if it was something he would be willing to do, and yet strangely she was taken by the idea of it.  Drawing in a deep breath, she leaned in close to his ear if only to break his sightline as the words would fall from her lips.  “I want you to fuck me.”  If it had not taken a lot for the woman to trust him enough to even be in such a position, much less for them to have finally crossed that threshold just a short time before, she was now giving him the ultimate trust she held within her as she requested him to cut loose completely on her, to experience something beyond that which he had shown her thus far, hoping it would culminate in the greatest release after everything the two had been through that day, especially him.

Orion

Hearing her hesitate, his hands seemed to tighten against her hips. Anticipating himself. Not even realizing his response as he awaited her to speak. Feeling her at his ear as if about to tell him a secret and some secret it was. Smirking at her response as one of his hands swept up to the back of her neck. He was nervous. Nervous of hurting her, nervous of it not being something she wanted but more importantly, nervous to disappoint. “and if you change your mind during…you’ll tell me?” he asked, assuring that they were playing in a safe field for both of them as his teeth found his bottom lip.

Jade

As his hands tightened against her, it solidified even more that which she was requesting.  Remaining there at his ear as she heard his conditions.  She pressed her lips just below the curve of his ear as she nodded her head softly. "I promise," she assured, offering her word as she knew he could trust it. She had always struggled to keep the same promise to him before but had never failed to do so, regardless of how hard it may be at times. This, she was quite certain of, if he was on board. His reaction seemed in line with her desires and she would have to trust his willingness until stated otherwise. "But I won't change my mind," she whispered as she brought her lips against his, firmly taking his kiss before she would sit up against him, abruptly ending the brief kiss as she imagined might help to set the tone.

Orion

Feeling her abruptly breaking the kiss, a low groan of complaint as she leaned up against him forcing his hands to slip behind him. Leaning himself up in a seated position before he was swiftly rolling her onto his back. They’d never done something like this before so to pull it off, without alcohol, would take him to needing to vacate his mind for a few moments. So wrapped up in obsessing and loving the woman, it was difficult to see things from that other perspective occasionally. Yet, flipping her onto her back was a good start and he knew it as he slipped easily ontop of her with the confidence of man who had done it a hundred times over. Not sure where it was coming from but he’d run with it as long as he could manage.

Jade

The sheer change in the man into the confident man she felt bringing her to her back had her convinced this was more than right for them. She knew he had this within him, yet witnessing it was unlike anything she could have imagined. It had been her request and yet he seemed empowered by the motions. As her back found the bed with him coming over top of her, her teeth were taking to her lower lip as visual proof of the feeling he had ignited within her. A hum found her lips as she brought her hand to the back of his neck for leverage to lift herself suddenly upwards, snagging his lower lip with her teeth.  Drawing his lip outwards for a moment, she released it if only to smirk up towards him. "You'll stop if it doesn't feel right?"  She asked, giving him the same out he had offered her.

Orion

“I promise.” he vouched in return, knowing it would help her feel more comfortable and him in the process. Just to reassure one another that if anything felt wrong or uncomfortable, they’d put a stop to it. Allowing his legs to gravitate to the apex of hers before she was lifting up for him causing him to lean up himself. Pressing a quick kiss to her lips. Now at the stand off of ‘whenever you are ready’ and ‘whenever you feel comfortable’ as he’d wait her out. Allowing his hand to smooth down her side, fingertips grazing her inner thigh as he felt the warmth of her radiating heat.

Jade

His promise to her was taken as gold as she returned his assurance with a smile of her own.  The light in her eyes shone dangerous as they embarked upon something new, something she’d never much imagined herself within, and yet anticipation laced her every thought.  As his hand found her inner thigh, her eyes were brought to his as that familiar bite found her lower lip.  The woman was patient if nothing else, yet in this moment she was losing her patience quickly.  Reaching down between them, she took control of his hardened cock, surrounding her small hand around him as she stroked up his length to restart something she had begun some time before.  “What are you waiting for?”  She challenged, a hint of flirtation lacing her words as she enticed him with her hand.  “Fuck me.”  She stated clearly, drawing the words out as they formed at her lips, making no mistake as to that which she wanted in that very moment.  No foreplay.  No games.  No teasing.  She had given all of this to him instead, having worked herself up in the process to which he would soon find there between her thighs awaiting him.

Orion

Feeling her grip him, essentially telling him to get it together. Exhaling his answer to her question. “You leaned up. You did it.” he reminded her with a smirk, both hands finding her hips to lure her back flat onto the bed since it was now him being looked at as if he was delaying when in reality, he was waiting for her. With her laying back flat, he pressed his hips back between her legs. Reaching for one of her legs that wrapped easily to his hip. Guided forward with only the need for her hand to guide him home since it was there anyway. “What are /you/ waiting for?” he asked effortlessly as his face loomed directly over hers.

Jade

A hum found her lips as he challenged her as the delay of events, causing her to smirk as it was more than true.  She liked seeing the feisty side of the man come forth, turning the tables on her, calling her on her shit.  It wasn’t traditional for them, and yet it felt more exhilarating to her than she knew how to properly convey.  As her leg was drawn around his hip, her hand found his base as she brought his tip to her waiting entrance.  “Maybe I wanted to make it difficult,” she offered, a smirk all the while.  “Maybe I wanted to see how bad you want it…” she reasoned, her brows lifting as though to add question to the statement.  Drawing her free hand up, her fingertip tracing his lower lip as she kept her eyes firmly on his.  “How bad /do/ you want it?”  She asked, directly attempting to add fuel to the fire she saw just beyond his hues.

Orion

Hearing her suggest that she wanted to make it difficult, he could have told her that much. It was evident. That challenging glow on her eyes as she followed up with another question. Eyes watching hers as he attentively scanned over her features. Feeling her hand guiding him to her entrance, it was too good to resist as he merely allowed his hands to push against her hand. Pressing his lips firmly to hers as he wound his hips forward. Allowing him a moment of that initial penetration with just the head of his cock before he was pulling back from her. Two could play at this, he believed. Lips still firm to hers as his hand tightened around her leg.

Jade

As his lips found her own, the firmness of that kiss would speak volumes to the fact they were very much so on the same page.  A new outlet to be discovered for the both of them.  A stress reliever.  A release, as she had requested he allow her to be from that day forth.  As he gave her just a bit of him, she could not pull back to draw in air as her head was firmly situated between the bed and his lips with no room to move, something she would find she quite liked, oddly enough.  Instead, the slightest shift of her chin would allow her to steal his lip with her teeth, biting down against him as a groan found the back of her throat.  He was holding out on her.  Teasing her.  Questioning how much she wanted him without having to ask it as blatantly as she had asked him.  With his hand tight to her leg, there was no room for her to drive upwards against him, to steal the length he withheld from her.  Instead, her hand found his ass, gripping firmly against his flesh as she attempted to urge him still forward with her bite at his lip exchanged quickly for her kiss once more.

Orion

Tasting the groan she gave up for him, he knew he had gotten what he wanted. Both giving and taking. The ebb and flow they were discovering quickly within one another physically as he felt her hand at his ass in attempt to lure him against her. Back to where he had been or even a bit deeper. Feeling her bite which earned a low growl of protest from the man as his eyes opened. Watching as he pressed his hips back forward. Slipping within her, allowing himself to push deep within her slick entrance. Deeper than he had been a moment before until he was withdrawing once again. Flashing a telling smirk against her bite.

Jade

The drive forward he would allow her would cease the bite at his lip momentarily as she drew in air as quickly as possible.  Caught off guard and loving every second of it.  It was different to be with him in this manner.  There were no caresses of hands, no moving of tendrils of hair.  Even their kiss tasted different between the two.  And though it was missing every element she had grown accustomed to in the short time the two had known one another in this fashion, they could still be felt beneath the surface, so infused in the relationship, not even the best of intentions seemed to be able to remove it entirely.  The hand at his ass gripped tightly as he began his retreat once more, not wanting him to leave her as beyond was simply void.  Yet she knew this must happen in order for him to fill her once more.  Withdrawing her hand from his ass, she brought it to the base of his throat.  Her fingertips lightly forming around the column of his throat as her eyes found his.  “You’ve done this before,” she accused teasingly, nipping at his lower lip again before she would push upwards at his throat, attempting to find the room there between them that she might use her own drive of her hips to take him in again at her willing.

Orion

Feeling her fingers curl against his throat, quite liking it for reasons he was not quite sure. Maybe someday it would be worth analyzing and understanding but for now? He was content just to enjoy it. Hearing her accusation, he shook his head defiantly. Feeling her push drawing a low laugh from him that he knew she’d be able to feel as he gave her the space she desired to his upperbody yet his lower body stayed where it was. Hips over hips as he drew his hips forward again, this time with no willing as he did this naturally. Pushing himself deeply within those tight walls and entirely. Allowing her to feel each slow pass before he hit base and the warmth flooded him.

Jade

His denial was expected, as she knew, but it didn’t change the fact that he was driving her mad with his teasing, giving her some, then all, but all as he saw fit.  The kind of mad that lit her on fire beneath him, doing nothing to restrain her own reactions, but only going with any thought or movement that struck her.  For once, she thought of nothing.  Plagued by nothing.  Weighed down by nothing.  Finding that as she offered herself as his release, he was hers as well, for in this venue, she was free of everything else in the world.  All that existed was the two of them with no use for anything or anyone beyond those walls.  As she felt the fullness take her over again, her body slipped up an inch at his drive.  The leg around him tightened as she attempted not to let him pull back again while her other leg turned outward, thigh to the bedding as she opened herself fully to him.  A contradiction she would not attempt to work out in her mind as she wanted him deeper and yet wanted the drive again all at the same time.  Her mind was a clusterfuck of desires as her hand tightened at his throat, based solely on his reaction to it as it was.  Fingertips pushing upwards against his chin, daring to force him to arch his back further while her leg required he stay where he was.  Force and control were two things she never could have imagined introducing into their bed, or even her bed for that matter, but to do so with the man she loved and trusted more than anyone else in the world required no thought.  She could function on complete primal instinct instead, with no fear to be found in her hues.  Suddenly, she took that space he offered her to draw her free leg within, her leg folding over, separating their upper bodies from one another, giving yet something more for her to push against him with, and thus deny him of her kiss as she had intended from the get go.  Their arrangement had been taken care of, his idea had been heard, and now as he met her desire to be fucked, he could do so without the pleasure of her kiss.  A smirk found her lips as she realized that even beneath him, she held the power there, she couldn’t help herself to take that moment of complete pride in herself for bringing it full circle, all to a place where a kiss was refused.  With a marriage proposal accepted, she was quite sure he lacked any further bargaining chip in the matter, only causing that smirk of hers to widen.

Orion

Still reeling from the pleasure of being within her entirely before her fingertips were winding up his chin. Winded as he resisted what he knew she wanted from him. The man was stronger than he looked. A strength that didn’t come from muscularity or weight. Sheerly evolutionary granted strength that would give her something to aspire to if she meant to force him into anything. She had gotten what she wanted out of his distraction and nothing else. Yet, watching as she negotiated herself and thus forced to comply around her if he meant to stay within. Eyeing her smirk as he shook his head. Seeing her well as she thought she was in control for that moment and he’d allow her to think that as his lips tightened against one another. In lieu of the absence of her lips, his hips rocking forward gently with the pre-existing length he had established within her.

Jade

Finding the shake of his head beneath her fingertips, her mouth was quick to respond.  “What?”  She asked, daring him to say what it was he was thinking.  Just as she was ready to ask it again with a little more attitude wrapped within the question, she felt him rock forward, a positional change meant to force distance between their lips had now seemed to work to his advantage as that rocking motion of his would prove to find stimulation within the woman’s walls she was not aware existed.  In truth, there was much she was not aware existed at this point in time that she might hope to grow to know in time, but for this, she was at a loss for words, and for air, as though it were his hand at her own throat.  The movement of his hips against hers would bring her hand down as she attempted to withdraw that leg from between them, yet didn’t hold the power to do so.  It felt too good to be ceased, yet all the while she knew she couldn’t handle too much of the good thing there without him reaping the benefits right along with her.  What good was the fuck if he wasn’t having to work for it?  Pleasure flashed through her hues as she looked up at him, mouth gaping as she lost the ability to smirk.  Her control gone, as quickly as it had been acquired, sabotaging herself unknowingly in the process.

Orion

Hearing her question, he shook his head once again. Too attentive to what all was happening between her legs to form words. Multi-tasking wasn’t growing to be his strong point as he knew just from the feel of her that he was accessing the depths of her anatomy. The tightness of her body was difficult to resist as he withdrew a bit of himself at the base before he was plunging back within her. “You know what.” he stated simply in return as he watched her expression causing his hips to grind back against hers as best he could manage since her attempt had back fired on her and he was once again in the drivers seat.

Jade

An attempt to draw her leg free from where it was pinned between their chests was unsuccessful, leaving the woman at his mercy as she looked up at him.  His words came forth as simple as ever, and yet with them carried much weight.  She had not known ‘what’ when she first saw the shake of his head.  Now, as her body jolted beneath him, feeling places within her he had not reached before, she wasn’t certain that this was the shake of her head, but it was hers.  Shaking her head no, her hand reached up to find his neck again, needing to apply that bit of pressure to move her leg from between them.  It was too good.  She couldn’t sustain at this place.  And yet her hand would find his shoulder instead of his throat.  Nails finding his flesh for the first time as she gripped into him, her eyes setting on his.  Irregular breathing at her lips as her own release threatened her too soon.  Managing only to draw her leg upwards, yet not free, her ankle at his shoulder, fucking herself over even further as she gave him more room to drive forward.  The grinding of his hips to hers had her nails digging deeper against his flesh.  The man donning cuts from a blade may soon find his girl was quite capable of the same if put in the right positions.

Orion

Feeling her shift, somewhere he wouldn’t quite think to put her as his hand gripped the side of her thigh. Allowing him a bit more leverage with his upper body as he glanced down to watch her. Her scratches quite pleasing as he’d much rather wear hers than his own. The hand at her leg seeming to hold her into place. Locking her in. Not allowing her to move and shift as she had a moment before. Now she was locked in. Like it or not. Grinding his hips forward once again. The time passing between each grind narrowing as they were very quickly working up to that request of hers.

Jade

As his hand found her thigh, essentially trapping her in the position she desperately needed free from, she would have no choice but to relent.  The moment she did, ending the struggle, she found instead pure bliss.  With no attempt to move from the position he had deemed as final, instead she took from him each thrust he offered her, her small frame jolting forward only to be controlled by his hand at her leg maintaining her there against him.  A whimper found her lips as the head of his cock prodded deep within her, striking her walls repeatedly to render her defenseless.  Withdrawing her hand from his shoulder, she brought it over her mouth, determined to keep herself quiet though it would be a task in itself.  A woman who might be described as quiet when it came to matters of intimacy was quickly proving to be anything but when it came to fucking, the very sound unfamiliar to her and needed to be stopped before it was to get out of control.  With her hand to her own mouth, she could feel her walls tensing around him, her stomach muscles doing the same.  Every muscle in her body reacting to that which he was offering her as she bit at the hand that now covered her mouth.

Orion

Watching her covering her own mouth, he took it offensively. Reaching for her wrist where he pulled it from her mouth. Pinning it over his head as that sort of thing was an act of war. Denying him both access into what she was enjoying but what he worked for. He wasn't much for immediate gratification but he'd be damned if he was denied it as he rocked his hips against hers a bit harder. Intensity matching the speed of each filling and warm thrust into those heated walls.

Jade

“But, Orion,” she quickly offered, the words interrupted from completion by a full scream at the woman’s lips while he took her wrist, dragging her hand from her mouth.  Foreign as her scream was in this arena, it was his and he had been the sole force driving it from her.  With her hand now to the back of his head, she drew fully against him.  If she couldn’t silence those screams with her hand, she’d seek to do so with her lips to his.  “I—“ she offered, unable to finish that statement either as he found a stronger pace against her.  Contractions within her indicated she was close, and yet she would try to hold herself together.  Coming apart there before his very eyes as she received each thrust from him unable to return them in any way.  The idea of fucking was one thing.  The act of fucking something entirely different.  And yet she was perhaps more satisfied than she knew what to do with as she felt him throughout her entire body.  

Orion

Shaking his head at her protest, he wasn't hearing it. His noise sensitivity pushed away. Loving the sound he could lure for her as he felt the warmth of her aching around him. Striking her deeply again and again. His head turning where his lips grazed her calf. Heated breath with each push within. Knowing she was on the cusp and he was resolute on pushing her over the brink of no return for him this time and a few times after until his own will power dissolved and he was forced to do the same.

Jade

Feeling his lips to her leg, she found he would not be assisting her with muffling the sounds coming forth from her.  Abandoned, she’d decided, though she’d not hold it against him in the slightest.  His breath against her smooth leg only amplified by her heightened sensitivity to everything the man offered in this moment as the room no longer remained stationary, twisting and spinning around her as her head became cloudy.  A bite of her lip would only silence her for a moment until one strike within would have her coming unglued.  As her lips parted, her head arched back as the tension mounted within her small frame, culminating in the pulsation of her inner walls around him, marking that which would come forth only seconds beyond.  The whines from her lips only grew louder as she raced to that edge, only beginning to quiet once he was coated with the warm fluid that rushed from her core.  

Orion

Feeling her cum for him slowly then all at once, he bit back a groan. The feeling of it was beyond compare. It would prove difficult to restrain himself from joining her but sheer willpower alone brought the man to overcome the physicality of it all. Too headstrong to fall apart just there as he pushed deep into her. Assuring he could prolong that which was stirring within her. Making good on that promise of hers earlier, assuring she might not ever ask again.

Jade

As he continued forth, unrelenting beyond her release, her eyes found his, pleading for reprieve though if he looked further within those same hues he would find she was loving every minute therein.  Though she had grown accustomed to the release being brief before she could return to a center, this time, he was improvising a way for that release to continue on.  Feeling as though she had nothing left to release, and yet her body proved otherwise.  Kept at the high, held to that ledge, she closed her eyes tightly, but there was no making sense of it.  Her thigh trembled in his hold, her body being pushed beyond both internal and external physical bounds.  Suddenly her eyes opened as she felt yet another release beckoning her forth.  Surprise flashed through her eyes as she brought her free hand to join the other at the back of his neck, now insisting he give her his kiss.  Ironic considering she had been the depriver of such just a short time before.  The cries at her lips had subsided momentarily, and yet were now back with a vengeance.  “Fucking kiss me,” she pleaded, her hands kneading at the back of the man’s neck to draw him to her as she felt the surge within her once more.

Orion

Once a woman who never cursed or rarely atleast, he was now pulling one out of her left and right. Growing breathless from that intense surge, he felt his breath hitch as he felt her draw him in. Another sharp shove of his hips before he was leaning forward, allowing his lips to seek out hers. After her depriving him and him depriving her, it seemed more than enough time since the two had sealed lips in the encounter as he did just that. Allowing her the moment to come down when he was sure he wasn't interrupting her in the throws.

Jade

As he drove forward within her again, a full scream left her lips only for his to meet her own.  Initially her kiss was firm, her lips pressed hard against his own as her hands at the back of his neck ensured he remained there.  Every ounce of passion transmitted between their joined lips, only to be interrupted by the whines that now found their way into his own mouth.  Slowly, her kiss became softer, indicative of the path downward until she finally withdrew her lips from his, drawing in a full breath.  With her leg still pinned between them, her fingertips remained firm at the back of his neck.  Having to remind herself not to exchange sentiments in that moment, although she very much felt them, she would instead rely on eye contact to convey that which he knew.  “How much porn did you watch while I was away?”  She asked, though it was only a masked accusation as a small smile fell upon her lips.

Orion

Hearing her question as he felt her coming down underneath of him, lifting up on his knees with a shake of his head. Still within her but ready for a position change. "I could have known how to do this for as long as we've been together for all you know." He reminded her, as it hadn't needed to be a recent talent and she wouldn't know any different. Flashing her a smirk, he shook his head. "Real pornography sets unrealistic standards...the amateur stuff though? Let's just say I had frequent flier miles..."

Jade

As he found his knees between her legs, she eased her leg out from between them, the limb aching for the length of time and position it had been held in.  Letting out a half groan as she looked up at him, her jaw dropping as she found his eyes.  One hand easing from his neck if only to shove him in the shoulder.  “You seriously…?”  She couldn’t believe the words he said, though she knew the man not to be a liar all at the same time.  Letting that sink in for a moment, she wasn’t quite sure how she felt about it, but then again if it aided in his fucking-ability he displayed just a moment before, it couldn’t have been all bad, could it?  “Did you at least think of me when you watched…?”  She asked, not too keen on him having seen another woman naked as it could easily stand that she would not measure up to them, but if it was her he saw, it might not have tasted quite as bad.

Orion

Feeling her shove to his shoulder, he laughed. Maybe she had been teasing, maybe she didn't really want to know but in the spirit of honesty. "What? Six months isn't a short period of time..." he reminded  her, it was only natural for the man to have those needs to fill as he didn't know anyone else in this way. Hearing her question, his lips tightened. "You're the only woman I could ever see myself with. You know that." He reminded her, yet, she didn't leave him a whole lot to work with in her absence.

Jade

In her time before she had left, she saw herself as a mere sexual frustration for the man more than anything else.  A disappointment after another that he handled with the gentlest of hands, yet she’d never thought he might have frequented amateur porn sites to get his way through.  She’d not let that settle in as at least she knew she could satisfy him now, or at least she’d hoped she was satisfying him now.  “Are we supposed to say nice things like that when we are fucking?”  She asked, flashing a smirk across her features as she leaned upwards, stealing his lips for her own with far too soft of a kiss to speak to that which she had request.  “Because if so, then I love you.”  She whispered against his lips, unable to withhold that sentiment any longer as finally she had completely recovered from that which he had done to her.  Feeling him still within her, the tension only greater as she sat upwards, her inner walls unforgiving to the fullness she felt within.  “And, I’m marrying you,” she reminded him, the smirk far gone, exchanged for a soft smile as she came dangerously close to ruining that which they had set forth to do here, but the bottom line was always going to be love for her.  She didn’t know how to feel anything else for the man.  Perhaps her own lack of experience coming into play as she couldn’t maintain the persona of a girl getting fucked.  She needed that kiss.  She needed to express herself to him.  She needed the closeness that took them far too long to find in the first place.

Orion

"We've never played by anyone else's rule book and we aren't starting now." He reminded her, the two had written their own. They were writing their own. With each encounter. Each day. This world was what they'd make of it. "I love you to...but...I'm marrying you." An argumentative tone, hand finding the side of her face as he pressed his lips firmly to hers. Demonstrating that the two would have an advantage where others failed and keep those two very opposite ends of the spectrum.

Jade

He had a strong point as he spoke.  They didn’t play by any typical rule book.  No outsider could ever understand them, nor would she ever reveal the inner workings of their relationship so that they could attempt to do so.  Hearing his tone, a smirk took her features, finding it beyond adorable that he’d try to argue this.  Her smirk was kissed away as he joined his lips firmly to her own, remaining in that kiss just long enough before she’d sharply turn her head to the side to defend her own argument here.  “Nooo, I’m marrying /you/,” she returned, her own arguing tone there in her raspy voice.  Returning her lips to his, she shifted her hips into his own, not allowing that movement to fall idle for too long beyond her release, using the motion to add emphasis to the words she offered there.

Orion

Feeling her push to his hips and her return, he shook his head. Though her movements would hitch his breath, she wouldn't win this one. A shake of his head. Pushing his own hips forward with a slight jolt, knowing he'd feel her as she felt him. "Mmm...I will." He insisted with a sharp breath through flared nostrils, pressing his forehead to hers.

Jade

The shift of his hips against her own paired with the feeling of his forehead to hers would quickly draw forth a soft whine at her lips.  He had her full attention in that single motion, getting his future wife to agree to most anything if he would simply continue there.  “You are marrying me,” she agreed, giving up her stance as being the one marrying him, allowing him to own that entirely, even if either way it achieved the same result.  With him there on his knees, her body wrapped around him, her hand found the back of his head.  Fingertips threading strands of dark hair as she broke that press of their foreheads to find the side of his neck with her lips.  A kiss too soft for fucking, yet no longer attempting to hold herself to anything.  Allowing their own natural flow to the act, even if it might seem out of place.  A grind of her own hips against him, her mind now entirely focused on making sure she satisfied him completely, with the prospect of erasing pornographic scenes of other women from his mind as he no longer had to rely on such things to get off; he had her to do just that and then some.

Orion

His hands crept just behind her neck and shoulders as her head lifted. Fingers curling over the top of the mattress for leverage as he pushed his hips forward. Satisfied for having won as his lips found her temple. The heat of his breath to her skin, feeling the grind of her hips under him transporting him to nearly another dimension. The images were gone the moment she returned to his life. The only woman he saw was her. The only woman he had seen in his life since they were children. The one whose face he saw even before she saw his in an imagined, fantastical future together. It had always been such. If there wasn't a future with her, he was resolved to not have one with anyone. Yet, there they were. Him building his pace against her as they remained woven within one another; mind, body and soul.

Jade

Her heart rate increased as she felt that pace of his taking form once again.  The continued drive within her leaving the woman speechless.  A conversation dropped as she could no longer play with the man when it came to this feeling that rushed through her.  Her body working together with his, seeming as though the two had been at this for years, finding their own flow to things as they always seemed to do.  The whines at her lips came forth more frequently, piercing the air around them as she felt herself tensing there beneath him.  She’d not last much longer as the tension throughout her body was loudly speaking to.  A place that had once held more fear than she could ever express now held more love than she could ever put words to.  Giving up the need for words entirely as there were certain things only her body could define, exchanging the need to speak for sounds.  Some unrecognizable and others close to his name on her lips.  “’Rion,” she managed, the first sound lost on her.  Unable to form the word another time as it would serve as his only warning that she was there at the very brink of release.  All energy focused in on that feeling, allowing it to mount naturally within her before her walls would contract around him, her breath spastic there at his neck as she gave in entirely to the feeling as she felt the rush of warmth come forth from deep within her core to coat him within her.  

Orion

'Lost my O when you found your O.' Tempted to smirk at the thought, he'd save it for later. When her body wasn't tightening and flush against him causing his breath to hitch. Each push forward into that resistance forcing his blood to swell. Normally much more in control, he was losing it rapidly as well as his ability to think straight. White knuckling over the mattress and unable to help himself as he came where he stood within her. Face finding the side of her neck which captured the resulting breath of the event.

Jade

As his face found the side of her neck, she knew he was right there with her.  As her own walls continued to pulsate around him, her hand tightened at the back of his neck, holding on to the man just as fully as he did to her.  Somewhere else entirely as the rest of the world did not exist in the slightest.  Pure ecstasy flashed through the woman as she felt the constrictions of her walls slowing, leaving behind that light headed feeling that was pure euphoria for her.  A slower breath there at the curve of his neck as she slowly drew her legs from around him, not wanting him to move, yet relaxing there in the aftermath.  A soft shift of her fingertips to the base of his neck, her hand made its way to the side of his face.  Continuing that contact with him even beyond their joint release, finding it to be the perfect final act before the two were legally joined.  Drawing another deep breath, she pressed a soft kiss to the side of his neck before she was easing her head back to find the bed beneath her once more.  

Orion

Surely in a few moments, the realization of what he had done would sink in. He wasn't supposed to release within her. He'd think she'd be mad at him, that he had done something wrong but for now? He was reeling in that euphoric sensation. Feeling her against the side of his neck. Feeling her easing her head back where she'd find his forearm underneath of her head. Slowly pulling his hands back from the mattress as he exhaled a deep breath. A pressed kiss to her collarbone and shoulder.

Jade

With his arm there as a pillow beneath her head, she felt the kisses he laid against her flesh.  A slow smile took her lips as she turned her head to the side, pressing a kiss of her own there at his temple.  Not with it enough to realize that which he had done, entirely too taken by the man to put the two things together.  Only knowing she felt closer to him in that instant than perhaps even the times before, unable to quite put her finger on why other than the fact they had released together, as one.  Repercussions of such a thing were not there within her mind as her hand drifted from the side of his face to his shoulder and upper arm.  Two bodies feeling united into one, another slow breath as she began that descent to her normal state.  Since becoming intimate with the man beyond her return, each time she was left with this feeling that they should have had this so much longer before as she became more and more aware of all they were missing out on.  No words had been exchanged in the last several minutes, a silence she was more than comfortable with as those kisses and heavy breaths spoke more naturally to that which each of them were feeling.  Her hand at his upper arm followed to find his own, linking tiny fingers through his as her hand curled around his.  A turn of her head and she’d find the corner of his lips, tempting his full kiss in the moments beyond while he remained there within her, dreading the inevitable moment she’d not feel him there.

Orion

Feeling her seeking out his hand  and ultimately finding it. He gave her a gentle squeeze. Feeling her at the corner of his lips as he turned his head. Meeting her kiss head on. Several slow, filling yet brief kisses through his breathing that he was still discovering it's normal pace. Speaking between kisses. "I'm sorry." He stated, knowing she'd know what he was apologizing for as a free hand lifted for the side of her neck.

Jade

The apology interrupted the kiss before another took its place.  Giving her a moment there to realize what he had to be sorry for.  It was then that she would come to the full reality of that which he had just done.  The reason this time felt so different.  The reason she was feeling the fullness within without the threat of his absence.  Feeling his hand there to the side of her neck, she drew a sharp breath as it all crashed down around them.  Not yet having had time to go get on something, she suddenly regretted that she had yet to make an appointment.  Her first gut instinct was to push him away, to go to the restroom, to attempt to force him out of her, though she knew none of that would work.  What was done there was done and nothing she could do would change it.  Turning from his kiss just long enough to break it before meeting his eyes, there was nothing that could hide the fear that tinted her hues.  With a marriage just a short time away, both of their careers in limbo, the last thing either of them needed was a child.  Shifting from the high she had been on, drunk on the intimacy they had shared, she now felt herself painted over with pure fear.  “I…” Drawing a deep breath beyond her attempted statement, she couldn’t bring it forth.  Altering it. Changing her thought process there.  Needing to be there for him, even if she was scared to death, but in doing so, she knew there was no fixing this.  “What are the stats?  How likely is one time?”  She asked, relying on the man’s brain to make sense of this for the both of them, needing to see them in the percentage that could come through this accident unscathed.

Orion

Meeting the look in her eyes, she could have hid it but even if she had, he'd know it to be there. She had trusted him and he had failed her. He couldn't help but to feel completely disappointed in himself and his lack of willpower. As she asked her question, he knew he had potentially screwed up all the progress they had made so far. Attempting to keep his mind on that question, he pulled off of her. Laying flat on his back as he took in a deep breath. Eyes to the ceiling. "Depends...when was your last period?" Charming pillowtalk but it would be necessary if she wanted a real answer.

Jade

As he moved to his back there beside her, she couldn’t feel more distanced from the man.  Going from feeling the closest to him she ever had to this, she couldn’t help that nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach.  As he asked the question, she turned her head to look towards him, drawing a deep breath as she sighed out the answer.  “Two, two and a half weeks,” she offered, finding this to be the least intimate conversation after sex to have ever existed, knowing he needed to know if he were to draw up stats in his mind on things.  Unable to bring herself to draw into him, she knew him well enough to know he was upset with himself.  If she allowed herself to truly think on this, she’d be upset with him as well.  Their future was supposed to be getting out of that bed, getting dressed, and finding a place that would marry them instantly without the need to wait for a license validation.  They were supposed to be packing for a trip.  But instead, she was picking his brain on the probability that he may have just altered the entire landscape of their lives.  “It was one time, O,” she attempted, trying to rationalize that one time couldn’t be it.  Surely the odds wouldn’t stack against them on this.  Her words attempted to comfort him while her own head was now spinning out of control.  No life altering choices, her therapist had suggested to her, and yet there she laid, in bed with the man, about to marry him, and potentially just allowing him to impregnate her.  No life altering choices, she thought to herself, a soft shake of her head as she silently scolded herself for just that.

Orion

"If we go somewhere in the middle of two to two and a half weeks ago...saying 17 days ago, last week was your ovulation period." He added, though it was a thin window. Truth be told, he wasn't too concerned with it. He knew it was only once and he knew there was a protocol that they'd have to look to. It was just the disappointment in himself. Seeing it in her eyes was more than he could take. Between his suspension and this, the feeling of failure did not bode well. Her attempt to comfort him fell flat as he knew she was just as disappointed. Reaching out for his phone on his sidetable, he was shooting a quick text to a friend of his. He needed a favor. Promptly. Getting the text back for him to meet her, he was leaning up from the bed. Still in a seated position as he knew of one way to atleast put her mind to rest, reaching for his boxers which he guided up as he stood.

Jade

Normally she found comfort in the words he would speak, finding his ramblings to hold something within them that she could hold on to.  This time, however, things were moving fast.  Moments that should have been slow and held on to, enjoyed there between the two of them now had a phone in his hand, clearly taking control of the situation, as if there were a situation.  Still lying where he left her, she watched as he stood, drawing his boxers up with him.  “Where are you going?”  She asked, not liking this one bit.  They should be wrapped together, not one dressing.  An uneasy feeling flashed over her as if she knew they were no longer focused on getting married as they had been a short time before.  Inadequacy rushed through her as she had lost the ability, twice in one day, to comfort him.  It was getting to be too much the way he’d pull from her at every turn.  Confusion set in as she couldn’t quite put her finger on any of this.  Minutes before he was telling her how he loved her and now he was gone from that very bed, clearly lacking the original destination they should have had that day.  Her teeth took her lower lip as she watched him.  “If last week was the ovulation window, then we’re fine,” she offered, only repeating back what she found in his words, her hand reaching to the edge of the bed where the man stood.  “So tell me everything is fine, get back in the bed for just a few minutes, and then we’ll go do what we said we were,” she pleaded, needing him to tell her it was all fine, yet his actions were speaking to the contrary.

Orion

Finding a pair of jeans a moment later as he buttoned them and heard her speak, back still turned to her as she continued as he felt her shift in back of him. He cocked his head over his shoulder. He wasn’t pulling from her out of emotional need. “We will be fine.” he continued, having a bit of faith in that as he turned around and pressed his knees into the bed. Hand finding the side of her face as he leaned in and pressed his lips briefly to hers. He wasn’t pulling from her. He was assuring that she knew that he was going to atleast attempt to correct his wrong. “and I love you…but I can’t take the look of disappointment in your eyes right now.” he confessed, as they both knew she had it. He had it himself but her being disappointed in him was something he could not take. “I have a friend that can get me a prescription only morning-after pill. I’m going to get it and I’ll be back. If you want to take it, that’ll be on you but…I’m atleast going to get it.” he stated, as she’d never be able to tell him that he just laid back and left her with the issue that he had caused. Keeping his shit together somehow by the grace of god yet knowing that by the time he was alone and in the car, it would be a different issue entirely.

Jade

As he called her on the look of disappointment she did not want to show through her hues, his kiss was still felt there against her lips.  Things had spiraled out of control there, leading to the man now being half dressed as she laid against that bed.  Hearing him through entirely, her eyes begging him not to do this all the while.  She knew he would want to take care of this, but there was a part of her that didn’t want to.  They had taken every punch as they came, never able to go out and get something to counteract something.  Even in the height of her fear, she could see that perhaps that was what was supposed to happen, knowing if it did, then there had never before been a child conceived in such love as the two of them shared.  Knowing there was no way to sway him from that which his mind was set upon, she brought her hand to the side of his face.  “I love you too,” she whispered, struggling with the idea of taking such a pill at all.  Being of the belief that if a baby was created, then that was how it was to be, and it was not her place to upset the environment within her to stop the formation and attachment from occurring.  “I don’t want the pill, O.”  Only able to speak that short statement there, needing him to understand that if he left and returned with it, she’d not allow it to pass her lips unless it was at his will to do so.  They had already sustained the ups and downs that day, too many times over for her to let it pass again.  She shook her head lightly there against his hand.  “If you want to go, I won’t make you stay, but I’m not taking a pill to end what was created between us, /if/ something was created between us… it wasn’t the plan, we didn’t have a plan for that, but regardless, I still can’t do it.”

Orion

Glad she was not prepared to patronize him when it came to the disappointment she harbored coming off of her in troves, he heard her mentioning not wanting the pill. He had already suspected she wouldn’t want it yet she would never be able to say he wouldn’t provide it. As she continued, his brows briefly furrowed. They’d disagree on this. She knew it. He knew it. Whatever could have happened a few moments before would only be at a cellular level for weeks to come. Cells. Heartless, emotionless cells putting themselves in action as the foundation or building blocks of a more complex genetic puzzle. “I need to atleast get it in the case that you change your mind…” he pointed out. So they wouldn’t be on pins and needles and on a count down for her next cycle.

Jade

“I’m not going to change my mind.  I don’t believe in it.”  There were a lot of gray areas on what she did believe in, never truly pinning herself to one religion or another, but better yet holding herself to a list of her own entirely.  This was one of those things she didn’t believe in, nor would she ever allow herself to get into that conversation with him as she knew where he stood on the very same matter.  “The only way I take it is if you look me in the eyes and ask me to take it.”  She stated easily, as that was the truth of the matter.  She’d do it for him and nothing less.  If he could look at her and tell her that he never wanted children with her, now or ever, then she could take that pill and a dozen beyond it, each time potentially hating him a little bit more.  But the truth of the matter was the disappointment in her eyes was not only to him, but to herself as well.  She’d drug her feet on setting up an appointment.  She was every bit just as responsible for her body as he was, if not more.  So for all he could blame himself for, she could blame herself for the very same thing.  “If it is left up to me, I don’t want the pill.”  She stated one last time, her hand coming to his against her face, eyes set to his as she did not back down in the slightest from her stance on this.  

Orion

“Because I’d pressure you to take something…” pausing, he tilted his head at her. She knew better. She had to. He lived his life around her comfort. Arranging. Tweaking. Literally considering every pro and con when it came to her and what she needed and for him to stand before her and pressure her to take a pill. Now he’d exchange the disappointment she had in her eyes for a bit of his own due exclusively to the fact that she’d even suggest it. Taking in a deep breath as he read his options. There was no good option here. Feeling her finding his hand. Eyes drifting down for a moment to allow him to think, having to nod. “If you are sure.” he continued, meeting her eyes once again.

Jade

“I know you wouldn’t pressure me to take something, O.  Don’t be ridiculous.  But I think you have as much right as I do to make that decision.  I don’t believe that I hold all the cards there.  I don’t want to hold all of the cards.  If you think there’s a possibility that we are pregnant and that is not something you would want, then I think you have the right to make that be known.  Just as much as I have the right to tell you that it isn’t necessarily what I wanted right now, nor is it something I’ve given a lot of thought to.  But if it did… then I wouldn’t want to end it just because our timing is off.  And who are we to say the timing is off at all?  We’re getting /married/.  We are going on this trip and we are going to enjoy having time together that we’ve never had before.  I’m not going to sit here and say it’s the perfect time to bring a child into the world, but I’m also not going to say I wouldn’t want to.”  Attempting to explain to him how she saw things, if only to give him the room to be honest about his own feelings there.  Not out of a need to take care of her.  Not out of anything regarding her at all.  Based purely in his own thoughts on the matter.  In a purely hypothetical situation, she was essentially asking him where he stood on the matter without being swayed by that of where she stood.

Orion

He shook his head. He disagreed. Clearly. “It is your body.” he reminded her, as what little say he might have in this was hardly even to her scale of decision, He couldn’t pressure her or suggest she take something that would control her body. That was in her deck of cards. His fate had been sowed with his mistake, surrendering his right to a weighty opinion. As she continued on, he didn’t get that sense of dread. If he did, it was only because he had disappointed her and himself. Not because of the potential here. If only because it was not what she wanted. Yet, he knew instability. They both did and if either of them sat and looked at it? They were alot more stable now than they had ever been. “I’ll be fine either way it goes.”

Jade

She understood his stance and would respect it just as she knew he would attempt to respect her own.  Nodding her head as he was there to the edge of the bed, her hand finding his wrist to drag his hand down from her face, placing his hand against her side as she turned, attempting to drag him back with her, regardless of the jeans and boxers he had taken up in the process.  “Then we risk it,” she decided, shocking enough seeing as the woman was absolutely not a risk taker.  “We go with the flow and we have no plan in the matter.  Instead, we just do this and then you marry me and then we hit that list of travel destinations without a second thought of this.”  Attempting to draw his attention away from the topic as they seemed to come to a joint conclusion there, which was truly all she could have asked for.  

Orion

Feeling her attempt to drag him back to bed as if it could all go back to normalcy when the proof of how abnormal this all was clinging to his hips. There were somethings that would need to be discussed. How to prevent this from happening again yet it wasn’t needed for the moment. It would be sometime until he forgave himself and she forgave him yet even as she dragged him into bed, he faced the need to get rid of this anger. To take it out on himself. To atone somehow. As she continued, he nodded. Allowing her to have this one.

Jade

“Kind of hard to be mad that the man I love was enjoying himself so much there that things got away,” she teased, as that was entirely true.  The woman had set out to exceed that of the pornographic videos he had watched in her absence, at which she would take this as a pure win in her book.  “And maybe I liked it just a little too much myself…” she offered as it had been an entirely different feeling altogether, one that she would want again, and again.  Feeling him release within her would not be something she’d be alright without now that it had been introduced to her.  “I felt like we were one,” she added, her voice dropping to a whisper as she confessed to him just how entirely close to the man this act had felt for her, perhaps exposing to him why she couldn’t be truly mad, and neither should he.  She’d felt close to him throughout the exploratory process they had been evolving within over the past few weeks, but nothing coming to this level of intimacy.  Pressing a kiss there to his lips as she tugged him down to the bed, a hum at her lips as she offered a slow, convincing nod of her head.

Orion

Feeling her tug once again, insistent and not willing to give up. He let her complete her job. Laying back down on the bed on his back as her words rang in his ears. He wasn’t sure what to make out of them. Part of him thinking she was just trying to comfort him. “Doesn’t matter.” he returned, as what she had said was good and fine but it was primal and emotional and he did not operate on that playing field. “You have an obligation to not do that in those moments. I thought I could control myself. I wouldn’t have gone without protection if I thought I couldn’t and I couldn’t and I failed that obligation.” he reminded her. “and while all that makes sense…yeah, it did make us closer and that is how it is intended to be and it was intimate…it wasn’t supposed to happen like that.”

Jade

As he contradicted nearly every raw word she offered him, she knew there was no use in trying any further.  He was demonstrating self-loathing there and there was truly no way for her to counter it, even if she had been speaking honestly to the man.  Jade didn’t know how to not try.  She didn’t know how to give up on this man.  But in this moment, she knew he wouldn’t believe even the most honest of her words.  As he laid to his back, she found a place at his side, her head resting there in the curve of his arm.  “What if I never want you to not cum within me again,” she offered, laying it before him plainly as the intimacy for her was worth the risk.  The girl who had been terrified of the act, attempt after failed attempt, having found something within it that made it all make sense didn’t want to ever not feel this again.  Letting that question linger there between them a moment as her hand drew to his chest, soft strokes of her fingertips as she attempted to bring him back to a space they should have shared in those moments after even as their joint scent still clung to one another.

Orion

“Then you are going to wind up pregnant sooner before later.” he reminded her as he felt her against his chest, turning his head to meet her eyes. Granted, the two had never checked up on the state of their fertility. It was only assumed that the two were healthy. Watching her as an arm drew around her petite shoulders assuring she was held in close to the man despite the fact that his mind was wandering on ways to nail himself to one cross or another. “Nature will take over.”

Jade

As his arm swept around her, she felt the pull there being just what she needed to feel from the man.  A hum found her lips as she let a smile grace her lips, a rarity to be honest, and yet he had a certain way of drawing it forth.  “And if we wind up pregnant, then I already know there is no one in the world I’d rather share that with than you,” she offered honestly.  Even though she truly didn’t want to try for expanding their family at this given moment, she also knew she absolutely wanted to feel the way she had felt not too long before again and again.  She was addicted to the feeling of him releasing just like that, feeling that warmth with her own.  There was no other way for her now.  His release may have never been intended for her, but now she claimed it as her own, thriving off the closeness she felt because of that which he had given her.  “I like knowing there’s a part of you inside of me, even now.”  An honest statement there at her lips as she pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth.  “Think about that.  You are beside me, but you are in me all at the same time,” she offered, pressing another kiss slightly further to his lips, attempting to lure him to his side, trying to make him see the intimacy the mistake had generated.

Orion

“I’ve always been in you…even before this was possible.” he reminded her, feeling her kiss to the corner of his lips before the follow up. Pressing his own back to hers as his arm draped over her shoulder slipped his fingertips slowly down the curve of her shoulder and collarbone. Drifting over where he felt the beat of her heart as his fingertips traced circles over that pulse. The place that he had always been within her. Granted, sometimes more than others yet he knew he had a place there. While he had not always thought himself to have the biggest slice of real estate within her ribcage, he always knew he had some piece of her. Not blatantly confessing that he did like the idea of his release within her but the lack of refusal or denial would stand to suggest just that.

Jade

As his kiss found her lips, she felt the path of his hand there at her chest, feeling that connection strongly as he actively did his part to reignite that which they had lost for the moments before.  A hum found her lips as she pieced together that which he said, not bothering to nod or speak as she’d dare not to break that kiss quite yet.  Still laying bare to him, she drew one leg up over the bend of his own, drawing into him without regard to his jeans in the slightest.  Finding intimacy there with him as her lips pressed firmly to his.  He was absolutely right in his suggestion that he was within her even before, though she knew he knew what she meant.  There was physical proof of that which they shared now residing between her thighs.  Slowly ending that kiss, she sealed it against his lips before she’d draw back slowly.  “So any chance you’re still interested in marrying me?”  She asked playfully, as though she were ruined having him within her in the manner in which she did in that moment.

Orion

Feeling her draw a leg over him, allowing the firmness of her kiss to take root and spread. Fingers still passing over the point of her pulse and where it was most felt against her skin. Feeling her sealing off that which had been shared, his eyes opened upon her question. “I don’t know, do you still want to marry someone with the potential for premature ejaculation?” he asked, as she had more of a reason to change her mind then he did in that moment.

Jade

She couldn’t help but laugh as he asked if she was still willing.  “Premature ejaculation.  Wouldn’t that stand to say I didn’t get off, much less multiple times?  Think we’ll be alright,” she decided, drawing herself over him, pressing another kiss to his lips before she’d sit up against him.  “Although, we might need to get heading in that direction before I have the chance to change my mind,” she teased, flashing him a full smile there over him as if there was any chance in the world she’d be changing her mind.  

Orion

“I did today…who is to say what is to come…cum.” he added, as it seemed to be the keyword of this entire conversation/debacle there between them. Feeling her pull overtop of him as he met her smile. A shake of his head. “You better start working on that changing your mind thing then before the ink dries…” he reminded her, beginning to pull himself up from the bed in his own seated position. “But, I’ve been waiting on you. I got pants on and all…”

Jade

As he drew up, she noted that tone of his voice, finding it beyond comforting considering.  Glancing down, her eyes slowly came back up to his with a grin forming where her smile had been.  “Dirty pants,” she offered as it was true now that she had straddled over him, joint residue there against the fabric.  A laugh found her lips as she slipped off of him to the other side, allowing one foot to find the floor as she leaned back over him to press a kiss to his lips.  “I’m marrying you,” she reminded him, stealing that argument from before as she slipped off to the bathroom, closing the door behind herself, leaving him and his dirty pants to their own devices.

Orion

“Well, now they are dirty. They weren’t when I put them on…” he pointed out, glancing down towards that pooling fluid to the crotch of his jeans ironically. Pressing his lips back to hers before she was off. Standing up from the bed where he was pulling those jeans down and off and seeking a cleaner, more appropriate option in the nearby set of dressers. A pair of dark jeans and a grey dress shirt as it only seemed appropriate given the circumstances as each button found its appropriate place from the bottom up.

Jade

A few minutes later, Jade returned from the bathroom.  Her face cleaned, her hair down, still just as bare as she had entered, yet all over a little fresher.  Finding him there buttoning that shirt, she couldn’t hide the smile on her face as she knew what had him putting on something of the sort.  “You got a phone number in that phone of yours for someone who can deliver a shot gun wedding without a very pregnant bride?”  She asked, as it would appear as though the only reason the two could run off to do just this, although it wasn’t even remotely accurate.  Standing to his closet, she slipped the only dress from within she owned.  Turning around, she laid it to the bed, simple and delicate, yet not a wedding dress in the slightest, although it would be today.  

Orion

“Yeah, very pregnant…” eyeing the slim midsection he had just seen on display, he finished the top comfortable button of the dress shirt as he reached out for his phone. Canceling previous plans before he was shaking his head. “but no, I do not. We are pantsing this one.” he reminded her, distracted with the sight of her getting dressed which was nearly as good as her getting undressed before he was slipping his phone back onto the sidetable. Walking into the bathroom to comb his hair and brush his teeth.

Jade

As he spoke, she was slipping into a pair of panties and a bra, then that dress that laid against the bed.  As he slipped off to the bathroom himself, she stole a glimpse at his ass shamelessly.  The idea of pantsing anything with the two of them was hilarious to her.  Twice in five minutes they had decided to wing something, though both of them were so deeply embedded in ritual and routine that the ability to pants anything was laughable.  Finding a pair of slip on shoes on the floor of the closet, she was reminded she needed to get to her apartment at some point and truly get the rest of her things.  “So what are you thinking?  Get married and then just drive until we don’t want to go anymore or you want to come back here first or?”  Trying to place what ideas he might have on the topic, knowing flights would need to be booked at some point in time if they were truly to go through with the fullest version of what they had previously discussed, but not quite sure if he had some rhyme or reason to any of it in mind.

Orion

“Married…and then travel agent.” he remarked, having already figured this out so they could get it all figured out quickly and have some plan mapped out. A wet comb through his hair and his toothbrush grabbed. Ran under the warm water before he ran off a strip of toothpaste to the center of the bristles. Leaning over the sink to avoid the inevitable splatter on his shirt. “Take it from there.”

Jade

“Ahh,” she began, taking those steps into the bathroom where she could marvel at his brilliance in person.  Her hands to either side of his pants as she pressed a kiss to the center of his back.  “A travel agent is definitely the way to go,” she added, additionally it would give them the time to pack.  “What about Crash though…” she asked, finding the one thing wrong with their master plan to travel for weeks on end.  Shifting to the side of him, she leaned against the countertop as she looked up at him.  “I’m not leaving him with Cael,” she stated quickly as it would be a cold day in hell before she’d trust her brother with another living thing.

Orion

“I’m not leaving him with Cael either.” barely even able to be heard as he brushed his teeth yet knowing she’d understand it, going silent for a moment. Toothbrush in mouth and hand as he glanced back from the mirror to watch her. Giving a moment of thought. “Maybe we can try to find pet friendly hotels?” pausing, he pulled the toothbrush from his mouth and spit. Washing his mouth out. “I mean…he is /technically/ a service dog. Sort of.”

Jade

His plan would work if they stayed in the continental united states, but travelling abroad, not so much.  As he brought into it the fact he was a service dog, a smile stole her lips.  “Think we could get papers saying that?  Then he can fly with us without the need to be quarantined…” She reminded him thinking that man of hers might have just found a way to bring Crash along with them for their extended honeymoon.  “He’ll have to miss training for a few weeks, but… I think it would be alright if you do?”  If not, perhaps they could arrange him to stay with the trainer, but she’d much prefer taking him along with them if at all feasible.  Pressing a kiss to his shoulder, her hand landed softly against his ass.  “This is why /I/ am marrying /you/.”  She offered in teasing.

Orion

“He does have papers. Just not completed ones but he is in training. I mean…” pausing as he washed off his toothbrush, thinking that worse comes to worse, he could talk to the trainer about it knowing that this trip could be beneficial for Crash. Feeling her against his ass and her statement, he rolled his eyes. “Because I found a way to lie to foreign governments to bring our dog into their country?” he asked, assuring he understood as he took a step back and around to face her.

Jade

A nod found her head just beyond his question as she found him there before her.  Both hands reaching up to find the sides of his neck as her eyes found his.  “Because you are resourceful.  I like resourceful.”  It was more than true that she liked a man who could figure things out, more than likely courtesy of her training within the bureau.  She had no desire to be with someone who couldn’t take a given problem before them and work it out with her, furthering the perfection that he was for her.  “Because my own determination is only surpassed by yours,” she continued, straightening his collar before her hand would find his.  “Change your mind about marrying me yet?”  she asked, flashing a full smile there before him, a lift of her brows as if to say he was running out of time to do so.

Orion

His hands found her hips as she drew in. Her petite stature always felt too good under those clumsy hands of his. Knowing full well that he did not deserve it and the world knew it yet there they were. Her asking /him/ if he was changing /his/ mind. Yet, she was right. He was determined. Determined to keep her. Determined to make something of himself. Determined to convince himself that he was worth a good sized damn yet he kept this from her doorstep. He shook his head upon her question. “Not for a second.” he allowed, though a bit more serious than she probably would have previously allowed. “I have never known a love for anything or anyone like I know it for you, Jade.” he reminded her as he pressed his forehead to hers.

Jade

Feeling his hands settle against her hips, her chin was lifted, her eyes set to his.  Her question had been playful, but his return was serious.  The smile of a woman teasing would fade into a soft expression of a woman that took this seriously.  The two had been on a fast track since her return and though it had its obstacles, it had proven to show them both what perhaps they’d always known, but in full color.  They completed one another equally.  She was now more aware at how deeply she needed him, proven in those nights when she’d draw into the items she had stolen from him just to give her some touch with reality.  She knew he’d been through his own hell in that time as well.  But now, they were on the cusp of something surely no one ever thought the two would make it to.  “I don’t know what to say to that,” she confessed quietly, drawing a slow breath through that smile of hers, only knowing that she had perhaps never known the full weight of his true affections until that moment.  He in his dress shirt and dark jeans.  She in a dress.  Both of them ready to walk out the door and join in this life they had been sharing for as long as she could remember.  “I love you so,” she offered quietly, though it wouldn’t hold up to what he had said in the slightest, it was all she had to give as he had caught her entirely off guard in that moment.

Orion

"You don't have to say anything." He returned, not saying things for them to be returned. Not expecting it. He knew better. Just letting it out in a rare moment of vulnerability that were becoming less and less rare with this woman. Putting all of his hopes and dreams into her as if it was not Jade that he could trust then there was no one for him. "I just need you to know it." He added, hearing her own follow up as he inhaled the feeling of her. Before this all began, just stealing that moment from her.

Jade

One of the greatest things in the world was the ability to hear something spoken from him with no expectation of a return.  Understanding that he only needed her to hear it, she nodded her head softly there against his as her arms drew up around his neck.  A moment alone before they ventured into the world where they would return much the same as they had left, but so very different all at the same time.  Pressing a soft kiss to his lips before she returned to where she had been a moment before.  “I just need you,” she whispered in response to his last offering as it was the most true.  She had found that she could literally walk through hell if she knew he was on the other side and that was what would get her through all the days of her life, hoping to be the same for him, knowing their foundation was of the strongest of any imaginable.

Orion

"Just promise me..." he began, eyes briefly closing as he tried to talk himself out of this track of mind. "I'm sorry. You've already done this but promise me just one more time and I'll never ask you again, please just..." a deep breath as he haunted his spiraling. Opening his eyes and a moment of hesitation. Just needing to spit this out but wanting to ruin the work. "No more undercover work. I know you had to do that for yourself but I can't do that again. I'm going to be selfish with you now. No more undercover work. No more leaving my bed.../our/ bed for extended periods of time. I need you here." Swallowing hard, it took alot to get it all out. To show those fears which needed to be immediately quenched and rooted out of his head.

Jade

Hearing him out, her heart raced within her chest.  She was so torn on what she wanted professionally and needed his support, yet she knew where he stood on this.  Truthfully, she stood where he did, but if she remained within the bureau, such decisions were sometimes out of her own control.  In that moment, she had to make a decision and stick to it, for both of their sakes.  “Baby,” she whispered, a word she’d never felt pass her lips before, and yet it felt strangely familiar and appropriate as it conveyed the depths of her care for the man.  “No more undercover work.  I promise you,” she whispered, drawing a slow breath beyond as finally a decision had been made.  There would be no more therapy, no more badge, no more bureau.  She didn’t know what the future held for her, but she knew he needed this more than she needed that position.  She could already hear her partner trying to talk her out of it, but it would be of no use as the man she loved was telling her plainly what he needed from her and she’d not deprive him of it.  “No more Special Agent Kerrigan.  Just Jade King,” she assured, dropping her last name and her title all in one day.

Orion

Immediately he was already feeling guilty for telling her to pick him over her career. But he couldn't do that again. He had barely come through the other side in ways she only knew the half about. He had never felt more eclipsing loneliness. Answering the age old question of what was worse; never having had or having had lost. The latter. He concluded. Hearing her promise, his eyes closing once again. Fighting the logic and the emotion all boiling together in the same spot. "I-I-I can get you a job with the city." He emerged. "They a-are launching an Organized Crime unit. The intelligence unit is swamped. You could get in easily. No undercover." He specified as his hands firmly gripped her hips.

Jade

Keeping her eyes there on his, even as he was closing his, one of her hands found the side of his face.  The offer was genuine and sweet of him to want her to continue under a badge, as the only life she knew involved one.  Perhaps if she was in the same building as he was, he might feel a little better about things.  Perhaps they both would.  But to do that, she had to pass the psych eval that she was more than certain she was failing.  Organized Crime was her specialty, by no choice of her own.  It ran through her blood, though in a much different way.  Thoughts of her mother flashed through her mind, unable to leave the business in any other way than to march to her own death, leaving behind a husband and two children.  It sickened her stomach to think of how different her own life might have been if she’d never been sent to live with the monster she had been.  “We’ll see how those evals come back and if that’s even still an option,” she promised, not jumping the gun on it, but not tossing it out altogether either.  “But hey, regardless of what happens, no more nights apart, okay?”

Orion

Though he'd prefer her to get away from the badge, he knew that was selfish too. He'd never breathe it to her but he often thought about a world where she pursued something different. To go to school, to start her own business. Something. Hearing her statement, he nodded upon reminder of her question. "Okay." He answered simply, breathing deep in attempt to pull it all back down from her as he gave her a resolute nod.

Jade

Not entirely sure that ‘okay’ was actually okay, she let her hand softly pass against the side of his face, able to sense the tension in the man and only wanting to help him put it to rest at least for the day.  “We have three weeks to figure that out,” she offered, returning to the plan of the two of them taking off for a while, an extended honeymoon, a break from reality.    She already had her doubts about that psych eval coming back in her favor, knowing the shit she had gone through had her head eternally fucked.  Combined with her early years, there was no way they’d mark the woman as mentally stable to continue carrying a gun, much less a badge.  Pressing her lips softly to his, holding a kiss there for moments longer than the last time she had, she didn’t draw back right away this time.  Pushing out those thoughts from her own mind, finding a calm she wished to push through to him, letting him feel the weight of it, to find freedom there in it, to know that in the end, she would only do what was best for them just as she knew he would do the same.

Orion

Nodding at her statement about the weeks off, he had to put his faith into time and into her that he did not have to be the only one to figure things out here. Pressing his lips back to hers as she let the kiss linger. The energy of her calmness definitely sweeping through him as he allowed himself to settle into her. She was so good to him. With him. In these moments. Giving him a place to just get it out regardless of how ridiculous it sometimes was. He loved her endlessly for it as he finally allowed himself to draw back for her sake, sneaking a quick kiss to the tip of her nose.

Jade

Finding that kiss to the tip of her nose, she instantly had a smile to her lips.  Her eyes lifting to find his again in the moments beyond the kiss, she let both hands ease down against his chest.  “Orion Malcolm King,” she whispered softly, lifting to press a kiss to his lips before she was already back to her flat feet again.  “What would I ever do without those kisses?” she asked, as if that alone would keep her from any further undercover work.  Her smile returned to a playful one that had asked a question of him not too long before, showing she could easily guide them full circle if given the room to do so.  “Good thing I’m never gonna have to find out,” she added before he’d had a chance to answer, stealing another before she was backing away entirely.  “You ready to never be single ever again for the rest of your life?” she asked, head tilting in the direction of the door, actually giving him enough time to answer this question unlike the last.

Orion

Hearing his entire name leaving her. It wasn’t often he heard that without being in trouble. His head tilted with it and the inquiry, watching her smile suggesting she was not angry or upset with him. Pressing his lips back to hers as he agreed with that sentiment. “I have been ready for that.” he confirmed, as being single never held the allure that it did with others. He found no attraction in the possibilities. Watching the gesture of her head as he gave her a confident nod. “I should probably ask you the same but I have the sneaking suspicion that I could carry you out of this apartment even if you changed your mind.” he teased, as if this could be forced upon her.

Jade

Singledom wasn’t something she even knew.  For as long as she recalled, she was tied to this man in one way or another, never quite belonging to herself, always belonging to him, even though their independence was laced through every step of the way.  Two halves that understood one another indefinitely, finally joining where they would forge into one strong union.  Just weeks after her return from that mission, in a space in time where she was to be making no life altering decisions, everything between them had been life altering in the best ways possible.  She’d not listen to the advice of therapists who encouraged her to take things slow, giving herself time to heal.  He was her healing.  He was her guiding light.  She would take this step as well as a million more at his side, knowing he’d never lead her astray.  “I wouldn’t dream of changing my mind,” she confirmed, a slow nod there beyond her statement.  A smile seemingly permanent on the woman who rarely did, her habit of gnawing on her lower lip seeming to be on hiatus.  No longer waiting or discussing or planning or scheming, everything was in line for the two who planned everything to jump off that cliff together, knowing they’d land safely in the other’s arms.  “You might need to just tug my hand a little though.  I’ll take care of the rest,” she teased, as she didn’t quite hold the ability to take that first step for the door herself until she felt him taking her with him.

Orion

Hearing her mention him taking the step, he nodded as he drew her hand into his and guided her towards the door without second thought. Reaching for his keys as he unlocked and ajar the entrance. “You need anything before we go?” he asked curiously, knowing he had the essentials in his back pocket as he stepped into the hall. A shift of his eyes. Basic instinct considering who they are and how they had been trained. Glancing back towards her as a brief smile took him. Knowing that soon, he’d be able to call that woman standing in the doorway his wife.

Jade

“I do,” she offered honestly, slipping in front of him as her free hand found the side of his face.  Knowing it wasn’t what he meant by that question, but seizing the opportunity and invitation just the same.  Lifting to her toes where she’d press a kiss to his lips before slowly easing down where she’d reach over to the table by the door to steal her bag as if the kiss had never happened.  Drawing the bag over her shoulder, she looked up to him innocently as she offered a smile and a nod of her head.  “Yup, all good now,” she whispered, a little too taken by that kiss as her voice broke under the weight of her words.

Orion

Watching her draw up her bag after that kiss, he shook his head. Knowing that the /bag/ was what she needed there. Hardly what she had given him as he watched her press to her feet and restored to her usual stance. Reaching out to close the door behind her. “Well, without further interruption.” he began, assuring the door was locked securely behind them before he was taking up her hand again to guide her down the hallway and towards the beginning of the rest of their lives.

Jade

With his hand there in hers once more, she flashed him a full smile as they made their way out of the building for the last time as boyfriend and girlfriend.  Proving that a hiatus from both of their work schedules might just be the thing that finally gave some clarity on what was important in this life of theirs.  Finally allowing her not to regret the time spent under cover if it brought them here.  Leaning her head into his shoulder, making their way down those stairs, the weight of their decision feeling light on her shoulders and in no way as daunting as she might have thought it could be.  Never one of those girls to etch her name with his last name, yet now she couldn’t wait to hear it for the first time.  Tightening her grip in his, she could only wonder if he felt any nerves on the matter, yet knowing she could trust him to show them to her if he did.

-March 28, 2016

[xbostonsfinestx-blog]

Jade

”Jade? Agent Kerrigan?” The voice of the doctor sitting across from her drew her from her thoughts, leaving her to glance around the room to place herself once more. She had been in session for nearly fifty minutes, but his last question would send her into the depths of her mind. “Can you tell me about your childhood?” The man repeated, noting the manner in which Jade’s fists clenched tightly at the mere mention of the word. Right on cue, there was a beep from the phone on his desk, signifying the end of their session. “Well, I think we did good here today and we’ll pick up with that question tomorrow. Jade rose to her feet, still slightly disoriented from the flashes in her mind, drawing in a deep breath as the doctor offered his hand for a firm handshake. “Tomorrow, at 11.” His reminder was met with a slow nod of the agent’s head as she turned for the door.

Jade stepped out of the room to find her long term boyfriend, Orion King, sitting in a chair just beyond the door. He had known her since the age of seven and knew her better than most, immediately spotting that look on her face. The topic she didn’t want breeched had been touched upon. He knew not to reach for her, but to allow her to do this if she should so desire. The fact was, her childhood had been hell. At only two years old, she and her twin brother, Cael Kerrigan, were placed with Allison and Finn Kerrigan by their father upon the death of their mother. The twins’ names were changed from Giada and Vinicio to Jade and Cael. Their deaths were faked. No trace would link the Savastano children to the Kerrigan children. They were to be safe there, to grow up in a normal family, living out the dream that their father could no longer provide to them.

Jade took the separation especially hard while Cael adapted to his environment more easily. Jade decided if she could control nothing else, then she would refuse to speak unless it were to her /real/ father. At first, the Kerrigan’s would give in to the tiny girl, wanting her to realize they were not the enemies there. But eventually, the calls were not permitted. Jade would go long periods of time not speaking. Cael did not understand why she was doing this, but in Jade’s mind, it made perfect sense. She’d refuse until her father was sent for and then she would have her daddy back. Only her plan did not work out the way she had hoped. Instead of bending to the strong willed child, Finn Kerrigan decided to take matters into his own hands. If she wouldn’t speak, he’d force sound from her in one way or another. The first assault took place when Jade was four years old and would continue until her seventh year when one Allison Kerrigan would return home to find the man with Jade.

The coming months, Allison worked together with Jade and Cael’s biological father to put the charges to rest, as well as seal the child’s records. Finn Kerrigan died that night at the hand of his wife for that which she had found upon her return. Discovery would unveil that Jade had suffered for three years there beneath Finn Kerrigan, in order to protect her brother from the same. This damage was irreversible. Into her adult years, the aftermath was there. Jade was not comfortable with the touch of any person she did not know well. She would shrink back when an unwelcomed hand would reach for her shoulder. In time, she learned some of this was beyond her control. She’d have to shake hands. She’d have to accept that someone would brush against her arm on the street. Though she wouldn’t react, it would always shoot tremors through her tiny frame, flashing back to the years infected by Finn Kerrigan.

The question of her childhood sparked it all within her easily, as it never took too much to throw her mind into that place again. Lord knew Orion had been up against quite the feat there with the woman as she battled her demons for twenty years. But now, she had a whole new band of demons that would exist within her. Things she had seen, done, and taken part in while in her latest under cover case. Six months is how long she would go under deep cover, infiltrating the Martinelli Crime Organization in New York. Leaving her home in Boston, her family, her friends, her boyfriend, she’d take on a new persona. Her cover’s name was Juliana Castellano, nicknamed ‘Jaycie’. For six months, she lived a completely different life to take down the man who ordered the murder of one Velia Savastano. When the job was complete, a taped confession in the agent’s possession, she made contact with her handler, informing them the mission was completed. The next morning, Jaycie and forty-two other members of the organization were arrested in three locations owned by the Martinelli Family. Jaycie then committed suicide, as far as anyone else would know, as Jade returned to Boston to her life, finally able to move forward from the death of her mother, if it would be so easy.

Upon her return, she was given two pieces of information. 1. She was to sustain a series of psychological evaluations that would be taken into strong consideration to be sure she was prepared to return to the field after being under for as long as she had. 2. Things change. People change. Stick to the cover story that she was at Quantico running a special training there for the past six months and realize the reality she was stepping back into wouldn’t be easy. To ease in. Not to do too much too soon. Take it easy and enjoy some paid time off with just a few appointments along the way. It sounded easy enough, but was misleading all at the same time. Easing back in was far easier said than done. Jade was an ‘in with both feet’ kind of person and this would be no different. The first night back, she went straight to her boyfriend’s apartment, reuniting with him. It had its bumps, but was rather seamless, giving her a false confidence leading into other reunions. With Orion, he knew where she had been. There wasn’t a lie there. Though she didn’t want to talk about all she had seen and done, as well as much of it being confidential information, his only concern was for her return and their relationship status. Her brother and her best friend would be two entirely different situations. They had been fed the lie, yet the news coverage would say something else to them. They knew she had lied, or at least she thought they did.

Baby steps. Everything had to move slowly. Ease in. She kept reminding herself, but as she stepped out of the office of the psychologist, she felt the walls closing in. That night, she was supposed to rest. Orion had allowed her to stay with him for the unforeseeable future while she took a break from her twin brother. His morning spent at the therapist’s office had him working a later shift as Sheriff’s Deputy, leaving Jade to her own devices. She promised to rest, but eventually it became frustrating to her. When she closed her eyes, she now not only saw the nightmares she had faced in her time away, but the additional nightmares of her childhood thanks to the therapist poking and prodding at her brain for sport. A walk was necessary to clear her mind, though losing her clearance temporarily had the woman unarmed. She’d forever feel naked without a piece at her side, but the tiny keyring of mace would have to suffice. As she left the apartment, she locked it behind her, venturing a few blocks from the apartment building. As she turned around to head back, she came face to face with a man she had not seen in years, and certainly never seen without her father there at his side. “Mr. Reddington?” She whispered in that raspy tone of hers, almost taken back, almost sure it couldn’t be him, yet took that step forward to see his face a little more clearly. “What are you…?” She began, asking what he was doing there, though too surprised to complete her own thought out loud. Reddington

CHAPTER ONE: A LITTLE PUSH;


        Odysseus spent a decade at war. But his biggest battle was finding his way home.



      The soft hum of an idle engine, scent of fuel wafting into confined space. Veiled in darkness, just beyond the edge of illuminated sanctity; the tall stacks of industrial growth tainted planetary defense. A pair of vehicles parked parallel, reminiscent of olden film: how shallow and otherwise predictable. From this vantage, occupants of both vehicles exited; a team of four from a government-style SUV, black with tinted windows. A simple pair of men from the high-end sedan, also tinted. Rounding the front of their vehicles, both sets exchanged greeting before lights disengaged, cloaking them within darkness' gentle embrace. 


      As much as it pained to embrace reality, the world was nothing more than a great big board, a game in which leaders carelessly expended pawns, promoted their rooks, and secured their knights. The kings and queens would remain otherwise isolated, free to issue commands from the sanctity of exile. But the players? Always two. Two who transcended purpose and would dictate it to others; two who could put aside affiliation and see the greater picture. Driven but never ambitious, calculating but never vindictive. Surrounded but never overwhelmed. 


      ''Stop me if you've heard this one: a French guy walks into a bar . . .'' The voice, perfectly measured in decibel distribution, inflection marking gifted oration. ''Tells the bartender, 'Le mot impossible n'est pas français' before executing him. A terrible waste of human life, don't you think? Well, the French guy goes on to end a revolution, supplanting the French Directory with something more beneficial to his cause. Ringing any bells?'' There was a particular air of confidence, voice lingering amid the dull hum. A smirk stretched over countenance, one that humbled any notion Faust had of the deceptive Mephistopheles. The opposing gathering looked toward each other, confusion marking their disposition. ''Thought not. At the age of twenty two, a young Frenchman would change the world; Napoléon Bonaparte spread French influence throughout continental Europe and beyond. He did this through a mix of deception, manipulation, and unparalleled battlefield tactics. You see, Napoléon preferred to let his enemies make assumptions, their own false conclusions before capitalizing on these errors.'' 


      Spawned from darkness, weapons trained on the team — eight barrels belonging to assault rifles emerged from behind the orator, sheer surprise handicapping retaliatory response. To the orator's side, the original secondary component of the duo furnished the Glock 19 handgun, training it on the group's leader. 


      ''You see Matteo, I am Napoléon and you are the decrepit French Directorate; in order to flourish I need to cut the cancer before it spreads.'' 


      "I think you've grown c*cky, Mister Eros. You see, La Cosa Nostra doesn't just disappear, it doesn't get bulled, and it certainly won't leave New York just because you want it to. We're international and the moment I make a call, you're dead. Get it?" The leader took a confident step forward, chest puffed out. 


      ''Of course the Spanish ruler, Ferdinand the Eighth, attempted to resist French influence only to find himself . . . cast aside.'' 


CHAPTER TWO: REUNION;

      "It's done.''


       There was no response, a simple press of a button to end the phone call. Looking at the burner device, he'd pass it along to the awaiting African male, who placed it in his pocket. His eyes averted to the passing landscape, watching as the natural beauty passed him. Of course, the late hour endowed very little in the way of extensive sights, but it was enough. "Twenty minutes, Raymond. Are you sure you want to do this?" 


      ''Absolutely, Dembe. From time to time the tree needs to be refreshed with a little flood of truth.'' The Concierge of Crime consulted his watch, a habit earned from his time as a United States Naval Intelligence Officer; meticulous scheduling, each bit of his time accounted for, down to the last second.  ''It's been far too long.'' 


      Nostalgia would eliminate the impatience of being stuck within the vehicle, lost within dulcet memories. Of a father and twins. He had been a 'friend', if such a thing existed, before the Christmas incident of nineteen ninety ( 1990 ). When his wife had been killed, he was there to provide assistance. Indeed, throughout the twins' lives, the enigmatic man had always been there, a provider of sorts. Despite personal loss, he didn't allow it to taint his vision. 


       As the vehicle made its approach, the Concierge caught sight of the familiar face walking along the street. Stepping out, his shadow would follow, eyes constantly surveying the area. Dembe Zuma possessed many hats, but perhaps the one he wore most was protector. He had also been graced by Red's benevolent hand. 


      ''The years have been kind to you, Giada, but as I remind you: no need to call me 'Mister'. Our history is far too intimate for that.'' He'd remove fedora, bowing his head: a sign of respect as well as greeting.  ''We need to talk, get in the car.'' Gesturing toward the open car door, ''It's about Velia.'' The death of  the Martinelli family's patriarch hit the underworld with ferocity that matched any domestic terror assault, tainting the net of information for weeks. No one saw it coming, no one knew who perpetrated it; this sort of chaos only serves to enhance feuds. The death of the Crime Boss set into motion a war unlike any other.


       The vehicle pulled away, once more entering the safety of the road: constant mobility. ''Congratulations on your hit; no one knows what happened. Well, no one important.'' There was the faintest twitch of a wink. ''The Martinelli were among New York's most elusive criminal family, responsible for the state's major weapons imports, muling various drugs: dirty business. I'm glad to see them gone but it's only a matter of time before they link this hit to you. We have some work to do.''

Jade

Giada. The very name drew a breath at her lips as she would never find herself fit for such a name, though she knew it was her name by birth. There were only four in the world that would know this piece of information, yet only one would ever refer to her in such a manner. Raymond Reddington. Even her own father had called her by the name Jade to keep up appearances as such. Giada and Vinicio Savastano died at two years old. Yet there was something about hearing the name from Red’s lips that would leave her in awe of a name and life that was taken from her. The next name to fall from the man was that of her mother. The death of her mother, in her own opinion, was the single event that spurred all others into existence. Without the death of Velia Savastano, she would have been raised in New York instead of Boston. She would have been in a family where there may be violence beyond its walls, but not within. She would have been protected by the man in the father role, not sexually abused by him.

There would be no hesitation from the woman to join Reddington in the car. He was familiar to her. She knew him. Her father new him. Her brother knew him. Though she couldn’t place the last time she had seen the man, she did know her safety was not in doubt when with him. Immediately upon her entry to the vehicle, he was speaking of her position, knowing her to be responsible. She drew her lips tightly together, knowing she was to stick to her cover story. No one was to know that she was even in New York, outside of her FBI counterparts. But Red knew. Her father knew. Her boyfriend knew. And that was three more than she was permitted.

News had been flooded for days with information on the forty-three arrests within the Martinelli Crime Organization. So far, there were three that found a way to kill themselves, though one of those did not make sense. Jaycie’s suicide was planned to get Jade out of her cover and back to Boston. Another suicide was actually real, the only that was actually real. And then there was that of Martinelli himself. Though it was painted to look like a suicide, there was much speculation that he had been taken out, yet how it had happened within custody was another question circling the dark world. This should have been a hiccup for them. Something their highly paid lawyers could get them out of. Yet for Jade, it was retribution for that which had been done to her, to her mother.

As Red congratulated her on the hit, her head jerked to the side. Hazel eyes imploring his as if to say he couldn’t know that for sure. Even those within the bureau did not know that it was her hand that would fire the gun to take out Martinelli within the unit. “The way I heard it, he killed himself.” She reminded him, a slightly too comfortable look there on her face with the edges of her lips upturning ever so slightly. Jade wasn’t a killer. But Jaycie was. Red was seeing Jaycie in this moment, proud of that which she had done. This form of herself was not permitted. She was fighting tooth and nail to keep it at bay constantly, but for some reason, she’d slipped into that mindset rather easily when called out on Martinelli’s murder. “No one’s coming for me. They think I’m dead.” A quick reminder from her lips, from the lips of Jaycie. The words came out so easily, they left Jade in near shock over the matter. She knew she felt safe with Reddington, but this was too much and she knew it. She had to turn off that woman in her head. The woman she was trained to be. She had to be herself, which meant no ties to Martinelli. She was Jade Kerrigan. FBI Agent. She had been at Quantico for the last six months, running a training series.

-December 29, 2015

[xbostonsfinestx-blog]

Today, I am a demon hunter.

Six months ago, I knew who I was.  There were things that I was fighting then, but I knew who I was.  There was no surprise in what my demons were, what they looked like, when they would show themselves.  I could put the guns down and relax, for I knew when I was safe and when I was not.  There was no sudden onset of anxiety.  They did not haunt my dreams.  I still had hurdles to jump, miles to go, but I continued my journey.  I did not let the demons within rule me entirely.  I learned to suffer the touch of a stranger.  I learned the ones I could trust.  I learned to enjoy the touch of few.  Each endeavor would take me that much further.  I might not have been successful, but the progress could be viewed as a win in the end.  The demons, though fierce, were manageable.  I thought I knew hell.  I thought I knew pain.  I thought I knew regret.  I was wrong.

The following are my personal experiences.  For a period of six months and four days, I was under deep cover to infiltrate the Martinelli Crime Organization in New York City, New York.   Juliana Castellano, better known as Jaycie, would be my life to assume.  Jaycie is a twenty-two-year-old young woman with a tenacity for thrill.  She’s power hungry and willing to do whatever it takes to prove she is more than just a pretty face.  Originally, it was planned that Jaycie would attempt to gain access to Martinelli, Sr., as he is known to have a thirst for much younger women.  The intel gathered would lead me to proper positioning for this to take place, to catch his eye, but it went awry when I drew in the attention of Santino Martinelli, Jr. instead.  The son of my target was close enough and his affections were strong enough to play upon.  I shifted my cover accordingly on the spot my first night in New York City, deviating from my original path to Martinelli, Sr.  

For the entire time I was away, Martinelli, Jr. would be key to my survival and proper positioning, though he was not in on my cover.  He was led astray, just as the rest of the organization.  On August 30, 2015, I handed over recorded confessions from Martinelli, Sr.  The next morning, the Martinelli home, as well as several businesses, were raided.  Forty-three were arrested that day in the take down, including Juliana Castellano.  My cover remained intact throughout the duration, right up until the end when she was arrested with the others.  Commutatively, the Martinelli Organization faced charges of over a dozen murders, prostitution, prescription fraud, and distribution of pharmaceuticals.  

I was released three hours after the raid, taken immediately to F.B.I. Headquarters for statements and arranged flight transportation back to Boston, Massachusetts.  Juliana Castellano supposedly died that day, stealing the gun from an agent to commit suicide in an unauthorized interrogation room.  Her family supposedly collected her remains and she was cremated.  The woman supposedly snapping under the realization she’d never be released.  With the death of Jaycie, I was thrust back into my life as Agent Jade Kerrigan.  In the moment, I was anxious to simply get home.  However, when I got home, I was to face the changes in Boston. There was a piece of me left in New York City, even if it was never truly me there.  Jaycie infected me and I would carry a piece of her for the rest of my foreseeable future.   There was aftermath to face in Boston.  The ones I once knew had progressed without me.  They had failed without me.  They had faced their own lives that were ticking on the entire time.  I came to realize one thing in my absence.  Nothing ever truly stays the same.  Including me.

-December 17, 2015

[xbostonsfinestx-blog]

Jade

To say that Jade was displeased with being forced to go through psychological evaluation would be the understatement of the century.  She had officially been back in Boston for ten hours before she was due at her first appointment.  She still had yet to go to her own apartment, thus leaving her to the resources of the bag of clothes she had donned as ‘Jaycie’ while undercover.  Skinny jeans and a flowing top would not hide the smaller frame of the woman, immediate visual proof to those who knew her just how much her being gone had affected her.  ‘Dr. Janson will be with you in just a moment,’ she heard from the receptionist, which she met with a polite nod.  Just a few minutes would pass before the receptionist would call her name, bringing her to rise to her feet, escorting her to an office at the end of a short hallway.  Reminding herself she had to get through this so she could actually have a choice in what she’d like to do with the rest of her life, she stepped through the doorway, as the receptionist presented her.  ‘Agent Kerrigan, this is Dr. Janson.’  A moment later, she was slipping out the door of the room.  Jade drew in a breath as she reached out her hand, welcoming that traditional contact that she so despised.  

Dr. Janson

Dr. Janson welcomed the Agent into the room and shook her hand.  "Good morning Agent Kerrigan.  Please have a seat."  He motioned to the set of couches that were placed in a 'L' shape in the corner of his office and took his seat on one, beside the other and picked up the file that was on the table in front of him.  "Well Agent Kerrigan...Jade...Is it alright if I call you Jade?"  He knew that they would be spending quite a bit of time together and wanted her to be as comfortable as possible, in order for her to open up to him, not just give him the answers that she felt like he wanted to hear in order to clear her for field duty.

Jade

The sooner that handshake came to an end, the sooner she’d relax a bit.  A deep rooted hatred for the touch of strangers, though she had come to realize such things were necessary in life.  As he directed her to the sofas in the corner of the room, she took her seat just a moment before him.  Her arms folded over one another, her legs crossed.  “Yeah, that’s fine.”  She stated quickly, holding back the sarcasm threatening her tongue to request calling him by his first name as well.  On replay in her mind was her plan to keep her answers short and sweet, tailored to getting that stamp of approval, and getting through this week of rigorous mental poking and prodding.  Later that same day, she would face another doctor who would want to know the same damn things, in her opinion, but it didn’t change the fact that she had no option.  It was customary when having gone under deep cover as she had, but all she really wanted was her gun back at her side where it belonged.

Dr.Janson

Her answer was short and a bit harsh.  He could tell by her body language that she was not enthused about being there which was not a surprise as many agents which came to his office for this same reason were in the same frame of mind.  He began by flipping through the file which he had already studied quite extensively.  "So I've read in your file here that you were on this case for quite a whie.  Three years investigating and six months undercover.  It must have been very satsifiying to see this to a successful close, yes?"

Jade

As he flipped through the chart, she couldn’t help but wonder if he had read it at all, until he spoke, pieces of information that would not have all been contained on the same page, proving he had more than read the material provided by the bureau.  “Yeah.  Any case coming to a close is a good thing.”  She stated in a matter of fact fashion, words any agent was trained to say, traditionally followed up to the press with how it was good to allow the family’s to finally feel that peace, but she’d leave that traditional speech out of this seeing as she was that family.  Knowing well that it was not in the file, she’d keep it under lock and key, as well as just as much as she could.  The less she let on, the better off she’d be, and perhaps the mandated five appointments between the two could be shortened to one, maybe even two.

Dr. Janson

“I see,” he said as he flipped through the file a bit more before setting it down on the sofa beside him.  He crossed his leg over the other and leaned back a little on the sofa. “That long on one case must have really consumed your life on the job.  How many other agents were working on this with you?”

Jade

As he sat the file to the side, she could see it coming.  There wouldn’t be a simple yes or no answer to his next question.  He seemed to settle into the sofa there before her, causing her to draw an uneasy breath, preparing herself.  “I took my job very seriously,” she began, summing it up rather nicely, tying it neatly in a bow the way it needed to be stated.  “Within the bureau there were six.  In the prep, two.  And in the end it was me.  I had a handler I could contact should I need to, but I only needed to once, so it was just me.”  

Dr. Janson

He sat attentively listening to her as she very professionally, but briefly answered the question, as if this was a debriefing with a superior in the bureau.  He jotted down a couple of notes as she spoke and then set his file and pad down.  "Just once?  You only contacted your handler once in six months?   Were you that deep in that you couldn't contact or just didn't need to?"

Jade

“A little of both, I suppose.  Any contact was a risk.”  Again, she spoke pointedly, answering him professionally as she had before.  Thinking back on the time she spent in New York City was her least favorite thing to do right now, as there were times she would almost appear to still be in that cover, though it seemed only to be with her brother thus far.  She’d see red and forget instantly who she was and what she was doing.  “I guess I only saw it worth the risk the one time.”  She offered additionally, yet still polite and short with the man.  

Dr. Janson

"I understand," he said as she spoke about the risk involved with contacting her handler.  He continued to speak with a soft and compassionate tone to his voice.  "So the one time you did contact your handler, what was it regarding?  Was the case or, even worse, was your life in danger?"

Jade

This was the point Jade knew her actions would be questioned as being too personal for the position she was in.  There was the question within her mind of whether to speak truthfully and honest, or to lie.  She didn’t know what he knew from the bureau, but she imagined he already had access to that information.  After only a moment of pause there, she looked him directly in the eyes in all seriousness, not telling a lie, though not the full truth either.  “I needed some personal effects.”  She stated as pointedly as previously, as though there was nothing more to tell on the matter.  “But no, my life was not at risk.”

Dr. Janson

"Well I'm glad to hear it wasn't a life and death reason.  However, you said personal effects...," his words trailed off, pausing for a moment.  "Do you mind elaborating on why you needed them if you were undercover?"  

Jade

The carefully chosen words had revealed too much.  As he asked her that next question, a tension would course through her body, stiffening the small framed woman.  Without the luxury of a moment to think, she quickly nodded her head as though the question had not been so revealing.  “I remembered something from Quantico.  When you’re under that deep, you have to keep ties to yourself in private.  You have to keep the cover separate from yourself on the inside.  I needed something to ground me because I felt the weight of the cover.  I asked for a few items from my boyfriend’s apartment.”

Dr. Janson

"I see," he said, jotting down a ntoe from her answer, primarily about her boyfriend.  However, this would not be a topic that he would touch on during today's session.  "You're very smart to realize that.  Many agents have a hard time with that.  So getting back to that, you felt like you were getting in too deep and losing yourself.  Was this because of the persona you had taken on, the people you were now associated with, or the life you had been inserted into?  Or maybe a little bit of all of it?"

Jade

A nervous habit returning to her as she bit there at her lower lip as he spoke, commenting on her ability to recall the information and put it to use to keep herself afloat.  What she wanted now was to leave.  To be given the go ahead to return to the field seeing as she was so incredibly ‘smart’ according to him.  “Yeah, all of it.”  She couldn’t hold him accountable.  Though he was one of the few chosen psychologists that worked with the bureau, he couldn’t possibly understand what it was to go under deep cover the way she had.  “I wasn’t undercover at a store to catch shoplifters.  I was playing with my life surrounded by mafioso.  I not only had to keep myself physically alive, but it was imperative that I find a way to turn Jaycie off and turn Jade back on in the moments I could afford to do so without risking my cover completely.”

Dr. Janson

"So how did you do that?"  His voice became a little firmer as he shifted slightly in his seat as he began probing deeper about her under cover life.  "How did you keep yourself alive, this persona of Jaycie without the threat of being detected as anything other than what you were portraying to be?"

Jade

Some of the ways she had gone about this were beyond the knowledge of the bureau and she fully intended to keep it that way.  Already her request for Orion’s personal items had raised a red flag to her superiors.  If they knew the rest, she’d risk ever working within the bureau again.  Although she was leaning towards moving down the professional ladder into potentially local law enforcement instead, she wanted a clean bill with the bureau should she decide to use it or return at a later time.  “I had my own apartment at first, so when I was there, I could be myself within those walls to a degree.  When I moved to the Martinelli compound, I still was able to keep my own quarters, so the same there.  I would only allow myself that in privacy.  Any other time, I was fully committed to my cover.”

Dr. Janson

"But it's like you stated, this was mafioso company that you were keeping.  You got close to them, close enough to be invited into their compound.  They weren't keeping you around just as a pretty face, right?  I know it states in your file that you were close to the head of the organizations son, correct?  Is this what gained you access to the compound?"  He had just fired off a round of questions at her, not wanting to rattle her but instead trying to get her to open up and give him more than the brief, professional answers.

Jade

And then it was a firing squad, she thought to herself as he drilled her with deeper questions, each phase of this getting a little deeper which she took notice of easily.  Nodding her head, she agreed to that which he knew.  “I did gain access through the son.  And no,” she argued, an almost laugh escaping her lips.  “It might have been a cake walk if they had taken me for a /pretty face/, but then I would have been under far longer.  I used the son as my way in as he made his affections clear from the start, but I was already presenting my skillset to make myself more valuable than eye candy.  Cute accessory girl isn’t gonna cut it when you are aiming for a murder conviction.”

Dr. Janson

"So you had to prove your worth to not just the son, but to the organization, that you weren't just an arm piece to the boss's son, but you could be useful to them, to get this information.  You had to get your hands dirty, didn't you?"  He knew that in cases like this, it was common for agents to have to cross that line or it would be their own grave that they would be digging.  However, it was his job to make sure that those agents he worked with, in this case Jade, knew coming back into her professional life that what she had done was on the other side of the line but done for the greater good.

Jade

A slow nod there at her head as she agreed that she had done just as he said.  She’d gotten her hands dirty.  She’d done things she did not speak of up until this point, things even the bureau didn’t know.  She had done what was necessary, yet it was in those things she would lose sleep for much of the six months she was under.  “I did what I had to do.  A side piece wasn’t going to get me confessions and information.  To get in on those inner circles… let’s just say that was where I needed be, so I did what was necessary to get there.”

Dr. Janson

He wasn't looking for a confession from her of sins that she may have committed during her stint of under cover work, but what he did want was seeing that she did understand that what she did was not what her real life was to find acceptable under normal circumstances.  He listened to her answer, acknowledging that she had done things to get the job done but staying vague in just what those were.  He sat up slightly in his seat, his voice retracting a bit in its firmness.  "Have you ever heard of Stockholm Syndrome Agent Kerrigan?  It's normally associated with kidnappings.  Kidnap victims can sometimes begin to feel sympathy or empathy for their captors, bonding with them, sometimes to the point of defending them for what they have done.  It's also common with undercover agents.  You see you are bonding, identifying with the people you are trying to bring to justice.  You have been kidnapped from your normal life and imprisoned in a life that isn't your own, and to make it work, to get to the results you want, you have to identify with them.  You have to feel what they feel.  You have to live how they live.  You have become a part of their world.  The hard part is just how you put it earlier, being able to flip the switch and leave all of that behind during the case.  Sometimes its just as hard, if not harder once the case is over.  Does that make sense?"

Jade

Listening to his words, she felt herself tensing up.  She could quite tell yet if he was diagnosing her or just speaking on a level she would understand.  She did feel for some involved in the take down.  There was almost a guilt that went along with the act of turning over the information she had accumulated, ultimately getting more than forty arrests when she had been after just the one.  She still didn’t feel a sense of pride in it, as it felt more like just doing what was expected of her.  Being honored throughout the bureau as completing one of the biggest take downs this century did nothing for her.  Though she too had been arrested that day, she could see the look in her cover’s boyfriend’s eyes.  He knew it was her.  This alone instilled a fear in her of repercussion, though she’d speak nothing to it as of yet.  “I have heard of it…” she confessed, though not her own relation to it.  Instead, poising herself to speak just what would be necessary.  “That isn’t what’s happened here.  I went in.  I did my job.  I came home.  Nothing more, nothing less.”

Dr. Janson

"I understand.  More than you probably think I do Agent Kerrigan."  He looked at his watch and nodded.  "We've got just a few more minutes for today's session, so I'll close up with this.  My brother was in the military and served during several operations in the middle east during the war or terror.  Afgahnistan, Iraq, I think he ended up with five total tours.  He would never tell anyone of the things he did over there, the missions, the lives he took, but you could see it in his eyes.  I offered him help, not from me, but people I work with.  After he was discharged two years ago, he found it hard settling back into normal life.  He couldn't sleep, kept to himself, and almost became a hermit.  Then I got a call one night from him.  It was late, and I could hear his voice, trembling on the other end of the phone....finally reaching out for help.  I'm sure you have heard of PTSD, and well, he was suffering from it badly.  He got help and is adjusting now, but what he saw, the things he did, those are things he has to live with for the rest of his life."  He paused for a moment and leaned forward, folding his hands and placing his elbows on his legs.  "The thing is Agent Kerrigan, I see that same look in your eyes that I saw in his when he told me he was just doing his job and everything was fine.  You went into a war zone.  You did what was right, and now you are home and have to live with that.  I'm here not just to evaluate you, but to make sure that a week, a month, two years from now, you're not the one on the other end of that line, breaking down and asking for help."  With that, he finished speaking and looked at his watch again.  "Well that's it for today.  I know we have four more of these, so why don't you set up a time for tomorrow on your way out and I'll see you then, ok?"

Jade

Listening to his story, she knew it was going somewhere she didn’t want it to go.  She knew he was going to somehow associate her with his brother and when he did, she felt her stomach turn.  She was appalled by the idea that her eyes held anything close to PTSD.  She needed that file to be stamped with a clean bill of mental health, not four letters that had most of the professional world terrified.  She wanted to fire at him, ask him to show her a cop that didn’t have that look in their eyes, but instead she held her tongue.  Nodding her head, she rose to her feet at his dismissal.  “Yeah, tomorrow.”  She quickly acknowledged, already dreading it if it was going to get any more in depth than this already had.  Making her way to the door, she realized her entire demeanor was not conducive to receiving that stamp of approval on her file, turning quickly to meet his eyes.  “I’ll see you tomorrow.”  She confirmed politely before she was opening the door, exiting the room.

-December 13, 2015

[xbostonsfinestx-blog]

Jade

“Layla, it’s Jade.”  So it had been six months and four days since Jade left Boston for New York.  During that time, it was radio darkness from the tiny agent, but it had been known by all that it would be this way.  It didn’t make it any easier.  During this time, Jade managed calls to Orion when she could, but even those were far between and made from a burner phone that was immediately erased and tossed each time.  On those calls, she’d focus on him, but before she’d end each one there was a message.  “Please tell Cael and Layla that I’m okay and I love them.”  By a few months in, she didn’t have to finish that statement.  Just a simple ‘please tell…’ and instantly Orion would know the rest.  Though she couldn’t risk the calls to each one, she could at least let them know she was alright and thinking of them. Upon arriving back three days previously, she was picked up at the airport by her partner, Michael Flanagan.  As he made his way towards her and Cael’s apartment, Jade promptly requested to be taken to a different address.  The agent agreed, dropping her off outside of another apartment building, though he wasn’t quite sure what to think at the time.  She seemed off to him.  She looked different; shorter hair, smaller frame, her bone structure protruding at her collar.  “Is this O’s building?”  He asked, hoping his partner was at least doing something somewhat predictable.  Jade quickly agreed that it was, thanking him for picking her up, heading up to the apartment to surprise Orion upon her return. When she left, there was no telling how long she would be gone.  While she was away, she could give no indication to just when she would return to Boston as even she did not know when the case would be completed.  The case had been the one goal she ever had for herself from the time she was eighteen years old and was given the full story from her biological father on her biological mother’s death.  Some might have viewed it as an unfair weight for him to place on her shoulders, but he knew between the two of them, they could bring the man to justice that ordered her mother’s death.  It would take years within the bureau to bring forth enough present evidence to reopen a murder case from twenty years prior, but Jade did so without a soul finding out it was in fact her own mother she was investigating the murder of.   In truth, Jade hated being an F.B.I. agent.  The only reason she went through it was for this day.  The day she could return to her life knowing the man would pay for robbing her of a life that would have looked entirely different.  A life without being shipped off to live with the Kerrigan’s home where she would have her innocence robbed of her at such a young age.  A life where she wouldn’t have fallen silent.  A life where she wouldn’t have had to take on the role of protector for her twin brother.  A life where she wouldn’t have the fear of being touched by most anyone.  A life where she could have grown up with her mother, father, and brother in a loving home without demons residing within.  Everything for Jade hinged on this loss of her mother and the hell she was forced to go through due to this singular event.  And now it was over. The first morning after returning, she was put through the first of many rigorous examinations, both physical and mental.  Before she could be reestablished as active, there were things that had to be done in such a way that had her on edge, especially considering she wasn’t sure what her future within the bureau would even look like.  She’d accomplished her life goal at only twenty-five years old, leaving her with a blank slate before her, which she couldn’t be sure if that slate involved that badge or any other badge in the future.  She was instructed not to make any rash decisions, to ease back into her life.  She was counseled on how people may have changed while she was away, that she may have changed.  She already knew the latter to be true.  Her dreams were of the realistic things she had witnessed as well as committed.  Things that would not go in her record.  Things only she could attest to, though she would not speak of them.  Things that turned her stomach and haunted her thoughts.  The damage within was deeply rooted, engrained in her over the six months she was away. After that first session, she stepped outside to hail a cab only to find her partner sitting there waiting for her.  She couldn’t help but smile at the mere gesture as she got into his car.  When asked where she was heading, her answer was home.  She’d sent a text to Orion to tell him she was heading home to see Cael, but for him to come by whenever.  That night should have been a beautiful reunion, but instead, it was an all out fight between herself and Cael.  Though this wasn’t much different than before, what was different was Jade.  She did not hesitate to get straight in Cael’s face, threatening him to the point the man asked Orion to step in and control her.  This didn’t sit well with Orion nor for Jade.  That night, she and Orion would leave the apartment together to go to his place, Jade declaring it didn’t feel like home to her, wanting to get far away from it. For the next two nights, Jade wouldn’t dare think of going home with the exception of one trip, strategically planned when Cael was passed out drunk, when she’d slip in to gather a few personal items and return straight back to Orion’s apartment.  She was supposed to be easing back into her real life, but she wasn’t easing much of anywhere.  Already, she had exhibited multiple changes with Orion and Cael.  Though Orion was a little more gracious in not overly pointing them out, she couldn’t help but be nervous about where Layla would fall in it all.  With a bit of avoidance on her own part upon her return, she allowed herself to get wrapped up in a physical relationship with Orion that had not existed before.  Going from therapy to his bedroom and back again for the first few days.   On the third day, she and Orion had gone to her therapy session that morning as they had the morning before.  He would sit in the waiting room just so she wouldn’t feel so alone, then return her to his apartment before heading in to work each day.  Today, she bid him goodbye with a promise to be there when he returned.  Being in Orion’s apartment without him always felt slightly awkward to her before, but now, it felt more like home than anywhere else did.  She laid down in his bed, staring up at the ceiling before turning on the television for background noise as Orion had been doing with her each night to help ease her into sleep though the woman was quite petrified of the acts that would occur when she was left defenseless.  Never having had a problem sleeping before, this was new territory for her.  When she closed her eyes, she lost herself completely.  The dreams consisted of things of Jaycie, her undercover identity.  Jade was to stick closely to the cover given to her, as it would ensure true separation of herself from the cover, but when under pressure, Jade had let a bit too much of herself slip in, thus confusing her mind on which was which. This would stand as the first time she would sleep since returning to Boston without Orion there at her side, easing her in, holding her, protecting her, keeping her company until the point she was so exhausted she had no choice but to fall into the dreamless slumber, thus giving her a false confidence in the matter.  An hour and ten minutes later, she screamed out, sitting straight up in the bed, sweat pouring from her as she drew deep breaths through her lungs.  “I’m sorry…” she cried against her knees as the woman attempted to bring herself back to a reality she wasn’t adjusting well to.  For several minutes, she made no attempt to move.  She couldn’t.  She had to let herself feel it in its entirety before she would vacate that location, attempting to get far away from that bed.  The woman was exhausted, but apparently sleep just wouldn’t be an option without Orion. Getting out of the apartment sounded like the best thing to her, so she did just that.  Leaving a note on the counter should Orion return from work before planned or swing by just to check on her.  ‘Went for a walk.  Love, Jade.’  Simple and to the point, just the way they always were.  For more than an hour, she walked.  No real destination in mind aside from busying herself until Orion would return from work and she wouldn’t feel so alone.  In that realization of what she was doing, there was one name that would come to her mind.  Layla.  Why had she been avoiding this so?  Because six months was a long time, as she had been told time and time again since her return.   With her phone to her ear, she heard Layla’s voicemail pick up on the other end.  No surprise there seeing as Jade now had a new number upon her return, so why would she answer a number she wouldn’t recognize?  “Hey, Lay.  It’s Jade.  I… I’m home.  Well, not exactly, but kind of.  I’m in Boston.  Got home a couple of days ago.  Sorry it’s taken me so long to reach out, but anyways… I’m staying at Orion’s for now, so if you want to stop by… should be by myself most of the afternoon.  If not, it’s cool.  We’ll catch up when you’re free.  But I just wanted to say hi and I’m back and I hope you’re doing well.  I missed you.  Come by or call?  Alright, bye.”   A notable uncertainty there in her voice, though it was much to be expected at this point.  She didn’t know what was what with most anyone, but she was trying and that should count for something in her opinion.  A key point there in her message that should draw some alarm would be that of her staying at Orion’s.  It was no secret that Jade needed her space.  Sure, she’d pull sleep overs at Orion’s in the past, or him to her place, but ‘staying’ with Orion for now implied things at home were in turmoil, as that was not a common phrase for her.  Her tone was raspier than before, deeper even.  The heights in her voice sounding crisper than before as the depths between fell lower.   As she hung up the phone, she headed back towards Orion’s apartment, a good distance from where she had found herself.  She didn’t know just what she was going to do with herself if she couldn’t turn her mind off, but 2 p.m. drinking sounded like a pretty good place to start.  Within a half hour of returning to the apartment, she had done just that.  Quickly showing herself the way to three sheets to the wind, the fantastic idea that if she was drunk, she couldn’t dream, though had Orion been there, he would have surely been able to advise her otherwise with his epic knowledge on all matters it seemed.  But alas, no Orion was going to result in one very drunk Jade.

Layla

INTRODUCTION: DUALITY “The tendency of the human mind is to see the world with a ‘dualistic’ view that describes everything through comparisons: good and bad, pain and happiness, beauty and ugliness, rich and poor.”-Gvalwa Dokhampa A tiny and hushed moan passes through the fullness of Layla Monroe’s plump lipstick stained mouth as she groggily looks over the red ledger splayed out before her upon the antique mahogany partner’s desk. With the base of her palm she wipes the remnants of a troubled sleep from her droopy lids. “It’s too early for this,” she grumbles. Layla sinks into the high back leather chair cursing her boss and uncle for leaving the books in such a state over the past couple of weeks. Honestly, she has no logic for being aggravated with him; it’s not his fault. The accountant hired to run the books for the gambling house and escort service, Róisín Dubh (The Dark Rose), was caught skimming off the top. It was a big mistake on the man’s part--no one messes with the Irish mob’s money. Being the assistant to her Uncle Donal Murphy meant the task now fell on her shoulders to manage the books… at least until he finds a suitable replacement. For a moment she just stares at it slightly overwhelmed by the task at hand. Her real frustrations stemming from domestic issues and the strain of her dual lifestyles. Her lover Declan stumbled in not too long after she herself had smelling of whiskey and another woman’s perfume. A fight ensued and unable to face the tears glazing her cyan hues he stormed out. Where he is she knows not... Unpredictable and marching to the beat of his own drum; Declan could easily be in yet another woman’s bed, doing something shady for the boss man, or drinking himself into a stupor over his guilt. Usually she would be consumed with concern, but Layla had more important things to think about other than what trouble he is in or where he is sticking his dick as of late. He always came home anyway... she might question his fidelity, but his love never. Aside from that she has found herself in quite the predicament concerning her work, familial obligations and personal relationships. Since coming back from France at 19, she’s been balancing two different lifestyles; Kennedy and student by day, Murphy and criminal entrepreneur by night. "We all live a life of duality. No matter what you try to tell yourself. The trick is... learning to adjust to the blinding contrast." A hint of wisdom often hidden behind feigned confusion resonates. "I personally adore the contra..." The words of one Ella Flynn, escort and ‘agent provocateur’, echo within Layla Monroe’s head repeatedly. Little did the redheaded minx know her one simple statement would stick with Layla for nearly four years later. The devil is in the duality most certainly for one Layla Monroe Kennedy. PRESENT: CHANGE “We can't undo a single thing we have ever done, but we can make decisions today that propel us to the life we want and towards the healing we need.” ―teve Maraboli A sheen of sweat clings to the Irish Bombshell’s brow as she delivers a series of rapid punches and forceful kicks to a stiff leather punching bag. Bright baby blues lock in a determined glare with the object, but it’s not a bag that she sees. Instead, she sees the face of her stalker and captor Vincent Girard. It transpired nearly 3 months prior. Layla was doing a high fashion shoot for a spread in Vogue magazine when afterward she retreated to her dressing room where she proceeded to have a drink tainted with a strong narcotic that left her unconscious and vulnerable. When Layla awoke, she found herself in quite the precarious situation--chained to a wall and locked in a soundproof basement that had been a creepy replica of her bedroom at home. Her captor didn’t hesitate in revealing himself to her either. Vincent had been the photographer at her shoot and one she had worked with on countless other occasions. Needless to say, her shock and terror had been undeniably evident from the start. Layla couldn’t recall herself just how long she had been missing while held captive, but she would learn from Orion and Declan that she had been held for nearly six days at least possibly seven. During her time in that basement with Vincent, she had been subjected to mental and emotional abuse more so than any physical abuse. Luckily for her, Vincent’s obsession with her hadn’t escalated to point of full on violence whether physical or sexual. However, the longer she was down there and the more she rejected his advances, the more he unraveled and unhinged he became. After the first couple of days, she learned a way to temporarily appease him by playing at a dangerous game that consisted of her toying with his affections. Toward the end of the week, he started to catch on and began to split at the proverbial seams. The depths of her fear seemed to know no bounds, but she never once gave up hope that either Declan, Orion, or both would find her. It wasn’t until she reached a point of desperation that salvation finally came. Declan indeed found her by retracing her last steps and finding out who the last people she had been with were. This led him to one of Vincent’s private residences. When Declan discovered her in the basement, she was unconscious due to Vincent using chloroform to subdue her and she been out for a couple of hours at least--exhaustion adding to her state. By the time she came to, Declan and Vincent were in a brutal showdown where Vincent got the upperhand, but not for long. Declan was able to knock Vincent unconscious just long enough to come to Layla’s aid. However, Vincent regained consciousness as Declan was trying to free Layla of her chains. What happened next was totally unexpected and couldn’t have been predicted, least not by Layla. It all happens so fast, in a montage of chaos consisting of blood and gunfire. She reaches for Declan’s gun and pulls the trigger--repeatedly, unloading all the bullets. Five bullets careened from the barrel to meet the target, putting a violent end to her ordeal by putting down Vincent for good. Declan wasted no time in getting her out of that basement and house. Not long after, Declan is carrying a shocked and speechless Layla into his penthouse apartment. Over the next few days as she recovers, it would Declan and Orion that clean up the scene and dispose of the body so that no one would ever know that Layla had been kidnapped and held hostage by Vincent much less that she was the one to actually kill the man. Physically, Layla bounced back without a hitch, but mentally and emotionally she suffered the prolonged effects of her horrific ordeal. Flashbacks would seize her mind at any given moment and she had nightmares every night for nearly two months afterward. She had this constant feeling of dread in which always had her looking over her shoulder. It didn’t take a therapist to tell her she had developed PTSD. In order to cope, she started popping Xanax and working out harder more often than before. Declan even started teaching her self-defense and fighting skills as well as how to use various knives and guns. Being a quick study, she learned she had a knack for it all, but still had much to learn… and she wanted to learn /everything/. During these past few months, Layla has become a different woman. Change; it can happen in the subtle ripple of calm waves or in the throes of a violent torrential storm. Either way, the impact of such is felt wholly on the person/s experiencing it. There’s no denying the fact that not all change can be good or rewarding. Sometimes people change for the worse and other times the changes cause irrevocable damage to a person’s mental, emotional and even physical state. The injuries and wounds inflicted can leave prominent scars that mar the heart, mind, and spirit. The healing process is undoubtedly slower than change itself when this occurs and the trials as well as tribulations one faces during this delicate period can make or break them. This is a certain fact that one Layla Monroe Kennedy has come to learn over the years, but hasn’t truly felt the weight of until the past six months. Within these six months her life has changed immeasurably thus altering her attitudes and perceptions remarkably. Is it for the better or for the worse? Well, that is a question she is still pondering the answer to. It’s not just been the abduction and killing of Vincent that has altered her, but a number of other things including the absence of her best friend, Cael’s further downward spiral into alcoholism, Orion’s even stranger than usual behavior which mirrors someone in the grasp of addiction, her mother’s 5th overdose on heroin and recent jail time followed by an escape from rehab, the pressures of being part Kennedy and thrust into the limelight, and the demands of both her jobs as a model and assistant to her Irish Mobster uncle Donal Murphy. There are times she can’t quite fathom how she is coping with it all at once. The only good thing to come out of the past few months is her relationship with her older lover Declan O’Reilly. Almost immediately after the incident she moved in with Declan and they became known publicly as a couple--much to the dismay of many. The news was not well received by her family and some friends. However, she didn’t really give a damn about what anyone thought. For years she had wanted to come out with it and let it be known, but the dangers of it risking Declan’s reputation and life. It’s not uncommon for men his age to bed younger women like herself, but he has been in her life since she was barely in her teens and their relationship began at a very inappropriate age for her. They had… they have a lot to protect and keep secret. Things changed for them though after her abduction and Declan put his priorities in order--putting Layla at the top of the list finally. Also, as far as she could tell, he hadn’t stepped out on her anymore and remained faithful. It seems as if he is finished with his no good, philandering ways. Layla couldn’t be happier in that aspect, but she wouldn’t deny the fact that the move and living with him is slightly difficult. That is whole other can of worms however… “C’mon girl, you can hit harder than that! HARDER!” Flynn Duffy, a former boxer for the Irish and trainer at a local boxing gym in the heart of Boston, urges her as she pounds her fists fiercely into the punching bag. The older man holds the bag steady for her while she takes out all her anger and frustration. One more spin on her heel and she delivers another kick to the bag--a loud grunt pushes past her pout. Barry loses his grip and stumbles back from the force. He laughs whilst shaking his head and taking a deep breath. Layla bounces on her feet, holding her fighting stance and prepares to go on the attack again, but Barry holds up his hands in protest. “That’s it for today Layla. Been at this for an hour and this old man needs a break.” The expression on Layla’s face softens and she smirks. “C’mon, can’t let a lil girl like me wear ya out so easily Barry,” she teases before relaxing her body and rolling her shoulders while popping her neck. She reaches for a towel on the bench next to them to wipe down her face and neck. Barry chuckles again and waves her off. “Hit the showers kid, we can pick this up same time tomorrow.” “I’’ll be here… dancin’ shoes on and ready to tango.” With that said she makes her exit and into the ladies locker room where she showers and changes. The call from Jade came through while she was in the shower and she didn’t notice the missed call until she has left the gym and in her car. When she checks her voicemail and hears Jade’s voice on the other end--her heart literally skips a beat. Excitement takes over, but it is quickly quelled by her hesitancy and sudden mixed emotion. Jade’s departure had been unexpected, but when Orion explained to her that she was on an undercover assignment she forgave her friend for not saying goodbye and accepted the fact that she might not see her for awhile. Both Layla and Jade have demanding jobs making seeing each other on a relatively frequent basis impossible. However, not much time would pass without the two talking on the phone. Matter of fact, they always made attempts to talk daily or every other day at least a few minutes. Layla hadn’t expected that while Jade was on assignment that she wouldn’t at least hear from her friend some. Truth be told, a little bit of resentment had formed on Layla’s part that Jade hadn’t reached out to her… Especially when she would make the effort to contact Orion. It hurt. She expected more of Jade, but tried to make the best of shitty situation and not hold it against her too much. The more time that passed, the more difficult that became. The hardest part of it, being after the incident with Vincent. There were things that happened to her that she couldn’t talk to Declan or Orion about… she needed Jade and she wasn’t there at all. One think that after six months she would have become accustomed to Jade’s absence, but that is far from the case. Layla felt it daily and it was like missing a small piece of herself. There’s a notable change in Jade’s voice that Layla recognizes immediately, but what really takes her aback is the fact that she has been in town and already contacted as well as been staying with Orion. “What the hell?” Layla whispers to herself. Stunned, she takes a few moments to listen to the voicemail a second time and to gather her thoughts. She’s supposed to meet Declan for dinner, but that would have to wait. No matter how she is feeling about this situation with Jade, she needs to see her. Layla calls Dec and informs of the change of plans before she starts the car and pulls out of the parking lot. After stopping off at the liquor store for a bottle of /Fireball/ for Jade and Irish Whiskey for herself, she is arrives at Orion’s. Layla considers using the spare key she has, but opts to knock instead. A few raps at the door and she hears the clicks of locks and the door opening. On the way over she thought of all the things she would like to say, but as her bright crystalline hues give Jade a once over she finds herself at a loss for words. There is something different about Jade that she notices immediately upon first glance. After a moment of silence hanging awkwardly between them, she musters a smile and holds up the brown paper bag with the /Fireball/. She thrusts it at Jade and steps into the apartment. “Welcome home, have a drink on me stranger,” she states as she opens her arms and hugs the woman. “Damn, it feels like it’s been forever.” Layla pulls back, eyeing Jade from head to toe once again. “How the hell are ya?” Before Jade could answer, Layla is moving further into the apartment toward the kitchen where she comes back with two lowball glasses. She hands Jade one before plopping down in a chair and pouring herself a much needed drink.

Jade

Drink after drink, Jade found herself relaxing a little more with each sip directly from the bottle.  2 p.m. drinking was working out exactly how she had planned.  No longer was she concerned that Orion wasn’t there.  No more did she feel naked without a gun within arm’s reach. If she could just spend her days exactly like this, she’d be just fine, or so she thought.  Since returning, she’d not had a single drop, but this was working out quite nicely.  Until it wasn’t.  Laid back on the sofa, the bottle hanging off the side loosely gripped in her hand, she had fallen into a drunken sleep there against the sofa.  The dreams now had fuel to them, something of a vivid reality stabbing through her mind.  A nightmare that would frequent her now seemed to be more realistic.  The alcohol giving it the power to come to life there in her mind.  Trapped beneath it, she could not wake herself.  Instead, she had no choice but to submit and live the experience again.   [The gun in her hand was steady as she sat in the backseat of the car.  She asked no questions when she was told to get in.  She asked no questions when she was handed the gun.  But now, as she held it, there were things she needed to know.  Santino Martinelli, Jr. sat in the driver’s seat, glancing over at the girl he was falling in love with.  He refrained from reaching over, as he knew she was not keen on physical matters, though his eyes connecting with hers would speak to his desires.  A half smile there at her lips would stand in as a full smile he would never see.  Speaking quietly, he informed her just what was going on.  His father needed to see that she was serious, that she could be a part of this life.  Once she did so, she would be in and Martinelli, Jr. would no longer need to speak on her behalf with his father.  This one mission and she was in. As the car came to a stop outside of a warehouse, she remained ever silent as he spoke, informing her that the man within was a rat.  He needed to be dealt with and it was on Jade to handle it.  She screwed the silencer there to the tip of the gun as she nodded her head.  A war raging within her mind as if to wonder if there was any way out of this.  Some way that she wouldn’t have to go through with it, yet she knew there was no possible way around it.  She’d have to go through with just what she was put up against.  She’d have no choice but to hold that gun, fire it, and walk away as though it never happened.  She’d be rewarded by her actions of taking that life.  The only thing that would drive her through it would be the knowledge that she’d have gotten one step closer to her end game.  Going home.  Putting away the Boss of this organization for the murder of her mother. As she got out of the car, another SUV pulled up beside her.  From within was Santino Martinelli, Sr.  He did not meet her eyes, nor did she attempt to meet his.  Martinelli, Jr. came to Jade’s side, a hand to the small of her back as he urged her to the building.  Once she was inside, she stood before the man who pleaded for his life.  She still had not spoken a word.  Just as she lifted the gun, she felt the tip of another there at her temple.  Swallowing hard, her decision was solidified.  It was no longer that committing this murder would get her in, would get her closer to the end result she desired.  Now it was life or death.  Without a word spoken on either of their parts, she knew that if she did not fire her weapon at the alleged rat, the gun at her temple would go off, thus ending her own life directly followed by another shot to end the rat’s.   Without a moment of hesitation, nor a flinch of her body at the gun to her temple, she drew back the trigger, firing off a round directly between the eyes of the man that sat tied to the chair before her.  A quick turn of her head, she stared into the eyes of the man holding that gun, Martinelli, Sr.  Only in that moment would she speak to him, asking him directly if they were done now.  Martinelli, Sr. lowered the gun to his side, giving a strong nod of his head as he drew an arm around her.  She drew in a sharp breath at the gesture, noted by her alleged ‘boyfriend’ as that hand gripped at her shoulder.  The words spoken by Martinelli, Sr. in that moment would stay with her, haunting her, day in day out.  ‘You now belong to me.  Your only way out is death.  Welcome to the family.’  Her half smile took her features beyond her control as she offered a slight nod of her head, walking out of the warehouse, back to the car she had arrived in.  Her task was complete, yet it would not sit with her as success.  She would not be so collected as she had been before the Martinelli’s that day.  She would see that man’s face, his eyes pleading with her not to do it.  The way he screamed out as she lifted the gun, knowing his life was over.  The way his head flailed back only to fall forward at the force of it, all because of the actions of one of her tiny fingers.  A life taken that would never grace the F.B.I.’s knowledge.  This was but one of many burdens she would carry, breaking protocol, breaking everything she knew she was to live to.  Though she was there to get close to the man, to retrieve spoken confession of the murder of her mother, she was to do no harm in the process.  She was to commit no crime such as this.  And yet, the man’s blood would pour from every wall within her dreams, mixed with the blood of a half dozen others.] A knocking at the door would draw her from the hell she was experiencing, leaving her confused as to which was the dream and which was reality.  At least in the dream she had a firearm.  As she looked to the coffee table, there was no such item.  She wasn’t yet cleared for ownership, hence pointing out to her that she was now in reality and everything before was just a dream.  Her head was pounding in unison with the knocks at the door.  As she lifted upwards, the bottle slipped from her hand, though only to lay flat against the flooring of Orion’s apartment.  Quickly lifting it, she placed it there upon the coffee table as she found her feet beneath her, one hand at the arm of the sofa for her own stability.  Surprising enough, the cloud of drunkenness had abandoned her, playing out its steam through her dreams, leaving a shockingly sober Jade to cross the space to answer the door. As she unbolted the series of locks, she finally opened the door to find the stunning Layla there before her, bearing gifts.  The way Layla eyed her was not lost on the tiny agent as she met Layla’s eyes in what would stand to be a rather awkward meeting for the two.  Almost as though neither of them quite knew what to do or what to say, yet it would be Layla that would take that first step, as per usual.  Layla’s announcement that they were having drinks on her brought a half-smile to Jade’s features, as it was about all she ever portrayed with anyone outside of Layla, Cael, or Orion, yet there it was.  A half.  Not a full.  She hadn’t yet found her comfort zone to portray the full yet, but it would surely not be long before it would be slipping through here as well.  Her statement was directly followed by the embrace, though it felt like daggers through Jade as she endured it.  She was separated from this connection, even if it wasn’t until now that she would realize it. Physical contact had never been her forte and those closest to her knew it.  There had been a time they were exempt from it, but in that moment, she realized it would take time to get there again.  She had been the same with Cael.  With Orion, it had been much different, but he was the only one she had managed to remain in /some/ contact with while she was away.  She wasn’t intellectual enough to realize all of this as it played out before her, but the determined young woman would not settle for it to remain this way.  Finally, she engaged there within that embrace, slightly forcing herself, yet it would work out in the end to feel genuine again if she was given just a moment to get there.  Before she could fully find it, Layla was pulling off, passing Jade for the kitchen where she returned with two glasses.  Layla was down to business it seemed, while Jade was only arriving. A seemingly typical question of how she was would throw her.  She should have expected it, yet at the same time neither her brother nor her boyfriend had asked such a thing.  Cael and Layla had been given the textbook information that Jade had been at Quantico, running a training series.  Orion was to be given the same, yet Jade broke protocol there, needing him to know the truth.  She needed him to understand why she was leaving and how important it was.  A training sequence at Quantico wouldn’t cover it.  When the news broke that forty-three had been arrested in a massive take down of the Martinelli Crime Organization, Cael and Layla could assume to know the truth of where she had been, as they had all known for years that Martinelli was in Jade’s crosshairs.   Something so simple as ‘how are you’ would have Jade rendered speechless.  Attempting to sort out which answer she was to give.  She could take the tougher approach, stating she was fine, happy, successful, and ready to get back to work.  She could take the medium, offering that she was easing in, doing what she could to figure out life again, but doing well now that she was back in Boston.  Or she could go with the truth.  She drew a deep breath as she joined Layla in the living space, taking up her seat on the sofa where she usually resided.  Popping open that bottle of fireball, compliments of Layla, she unscrewed the cap and poured herself a hefty glass full.  “I’m good,” she began, almost as though she were going with the medium or tough girl options.  A drink from her glass later, she was turning towards where Layla sat, getting herself more comfortable there on the sofa in Orion’s pajama pants and a tank top, the glass kept nearby her lips. “I’m glad to be home,” she stated.  A truth there at her lips that didn’t exactly conform to any of the planned offerings, yet it was getting her somewhere at the same time.  “Enough about me.”  She stated, detouring from any of her three laid out options, closing them, taking on a closed off approach for the moment, though she wouldn’t remain as such.  There were things she couldn’t and wouldn’t talk about, but there was much in the news that would speak for her.  She knew Layla knew where she had been and what she had been doing, so questions of that would be off the table, but how she was?  That was truly yet to be unveiled. “Tell me about you.  Tell me what I missed.  Tell me everything, especially good stuff.”  That request alone would state that she was not okay.  Jade would never specify what she wanted to hear, always wanting to know it all, hear it all.  Nothing was ever off limits for her to speak of, yet when Jade hit the bottom, she was sitting before her, asking to hear the good stuff.  She needed the good stuff.  Things had been so bad with Cael, there was no good to be found.  With Orion, there was good stuff with them together, but  most everything he had offered her about her time away included people trying to get him to move on from Jade, insisting that she would never return from the life there at Quantico, as they all had to be told she was living.  Orion had stayed strong, avoiding advances and set ups from the other guys in the department, but it was still a lot for Jade to handle knowing he had been pushed to see other people, to give up on her.  She had her fill of negative and things she’d have to swallow down upon her return.  Now, she needed some good. She knew not everything could have been good for any of the ones she had been forced to leave behind for the six months of her case, but surely there had at least been some good that Layla could start off with.  Something to help ease Jade into the negative that seemed to follow every reunion she had thus far.  The slight trembling of her hand there against that glass would not cease as her body prepared for the negative that would potentially follow, though she was hopeful Layla would have something, anything, that she could start with that was positive. The last three days had been centered on her.  Doctors, Orion, Cael, every person had been focused in on her in some way or another.  Be it fighting with her, pushing her, asking questions of her, prying.  Each was taking its own toll on her in ways that individually might not have been too bad, but together, it had been too much.  Orion was the least of all, though with him it would be thoughts of that blonde that interrupted their dinner date two nights before, engrained in Jade’s mind on just who the guys he worked with daily thought he should be with.  Cael was a prick, picking a fight with her within minutes of her return.  And the doctors just asked all the questions she never wanted to hear, nor answer.  Each one cutting a little bit deeper, making her a little sicker to her stomach than the moment before.  In truth, she wished she could find some way to pay them off, to give her the stamp of approval, and let her figure out what to do with the rest of her life in peace without having her psyche poked and prodded at as though it were fun and games. Layla

Since childhood, Jade has always been skilled at putting up a good front and playing it tough. It’s one of the reasons Layla is sure she does well at her job. However, there’s never been a time that Layla herself hasn’t been able to see through the facade or cut through the bullshit. It’s usually with grace and gentle prodding that Layla is always able to get down to the nitty gritty of things with Jade, but it’s been 6 long months in which her own life has changed immeasurably thus altering her in the process. The difference being, Layla is now tougher, a bit more rough around the edges, and forthcoming to the extent of being outright blunt about things. As she kicks back her first shot of whiskey, savoring the burn more so than the flavor, and pours herself another--she is tempted to get right down to it and tell Jade to drop the act. Layla holds her tongue though and simply takes her second shot before pouring her third. This one she holds onto sipping leisurely--she wants a buzz to ease her tension not to get outright drunk. Layla notes the slight tremble in Jade’s hand as she sits back in the chair and settles in. Before Jade can catch her lingering eye, she diverts her gaze. “One of these days, I’m gonna get ya to have a few drinks of fine Irish Whiskey instead that Fireball crap,” she teases, a wry smile curling along her whiskey coated lips. In all honesty, Layla isn’t quite sure where to begin. She has plenty of questions of her own--some of which she know Jade would and could answer and others not so much. She rather discuss Jade than herself. If only for the fact the kidnapping would come up at some point and it’s not exactly a memory she enjoys recalling much less talking about. Plus, she is still very much annoyed by Jade leaving without as much as a Goodbye of some sort. Layla could excuse the lack of contact while she was undercover, but the fact she didn’t even bother to give her a heads up or a Goodbye really hurt. The only information she ever received had come from Orion and it really put things into perspective for Layla. Jade obviously put more importance on her relationship with Orion than she does her friendship with her even though they have been friends longer than she has known or been involved with Orion. For Layla, that realization stings and alters her views on their friendship. Even though Layla doesn’t like talking about the kidnapping and certainly wouldn’t spring it on Jade right away--she isn’t quite sure how to feel about her request. “Tell me about you. Tell me what I missed. Tell me everything, especially the good stuff.” She can tell by Jade’s tone and demeanor that she doesn’t really want to hear everything. Layla takes the hint--it’s a bitter pill to swallow. The old Jade would’ve wanted to know everything good or bad. Layla offers a smirk and a casual shrug. She has very little to report on a purely positive note unless she can twist some of it by leaving other parts out. This does not sit well with Layla at all, but she obliges her friend and does so the best that she can. “Hm…. Well, Declan and I are officially out. We moved into together about 3 months ago and everyone knows about us now.” Layla huff a laugh. “Of course none know the truth… that we’ve been together for years. I think Uncle Donal suspects, but he doesn’t voice it. I landed gigs with Givenchy and Vera Wang. Doing an ad for the Dahlia collection of Givenchy perfume next month and will be one of the models Vera is using for the premiere of her spring collection. I get to wear one of her wedding dresses.” The smirk on her lips turns to a genuine smile. “Still helpin’ at Róisín Dubh. Convinced Uncle Donal to expand some by opening up a restaurant in the space next to the pub. We start the remodeling next month. Been interviewing Chefs this past week. Of course… the /other/ business is booming,” she states in reference to the illegal club beneath the pub. Layla takes a moment to pause, sipping her drink and pondering exactly what to say next and how to say it. “I picked up kickboxing and been taking some self-defense courses. Spend a lot of time at the gym or at the shooting range,” Her smirk returns. Layla used to be quite fearful of guns and inept at handling them. A lot has changed obviously. “Mhmmm…” she raises her drink to Jade before finishing it off. “I finally have learned how to use a gun--Declan taught me.” There’s not much good for Layla to offer up other than all of that and a silence suddenly hangs between them. She eyes Jade quietly, still holding tightly onto her questions and concealing her thoughts.

Jade

Returning to Boston was both the best thing and the hardest thing to Jade, all at the same time.  On one hand, she couldn’t wait to get home.  The idea of her apartment, her bed, and her life would flood every joyous sense within the woman.  Family, friends, familiar co-workers.  Jade was one who depended on normalcy, much due to her relationship with Orion, but the fact was, she needed it.  She liked knowing what was for dinner every night without having to wonder or make a decision.  She liked knowing where every item she owned was.  She liked coordination and organization.  There was a rhyme and reason to everything in her life up until this stint undercover and she truly couldn’t wait to return to a place where she knew exactly what was what and what to expect at every turn.  Though her professional life would always be erratic, she relied on the predictability of her personal life. But then there was also anxiety.  She had no choice but to leave without a word.  She couldn’t tell her brother, her adoptive mother [Allison], her best friend, her neighbor.  She wasn’t to tell a soul where she was going, nor what the mission she would be under would be.  Instead, they all got the same cover story.  She would be returning to Quantico where she would lead a training series for an undetermined amount of time after a key trainer had retired until a new one was found.  It was no secret that dealing with trainees was a full time job, thus making very little time for any forms of contact to take place.  When she had been there herself, she had virtually dropped off the map, so the same would be expected of her as an administrator.  This was mandated by the bureau and not of Jade’s decision in the slightest, yet she knew there would be some that would attempt to hold it to her.  Namely her brother and her best friend.   Allison had always been understanding of Jade’s profession.  She could be called out at any time to slip into a cover, and though these normally were a few days here or there, this would stand as the longest she’d ever be under, and the only time she would be under truly deep cover.  Allison would ask no questions after any of the missions, always respecting that which Jade could not speak of.  She had an appreciation for the position and all that it entailed in a manner that Jade would not come to fully understand until far later in life when it was discovered that Allison’s own father had been C.I.A.  The life of an agent in either branch would be a life of lies, secrets, and deceit.  Just because Jade cared for someone did not make them privy to such information, as it required certain amounts of security clearance, and there were even times when such clearance was not enough.   Jade was an intelligent woman and never expected for those in her life to fully understand that which she had to do.  Orion, in his position, would get it more so than any of the others in her own opinion.  He knew how hard it could be to close a case.  He knew the hell one had to live with when a case turned cold.  Only in the F.B.I., there were no cold cases.  A case was never truly deemed unsolvable.  The cases were rotating, constantly revolving through the hands of agents to uncover something another agent might not have seen.  Those files were often the most frustrating for an experienced agent, but for Jade, they were her specialty.  She lived with those files scattered against her bed, residing in boxes in the corner of her bedroom.  They were bath reading material.  They were bedtime stories.  These files would be ones that she would feel the most drive to work, as her own mother’s death had been one of them, reincarnated into her hands after twenty years of agents didn’t have enough intel to find the missing piece. For Jade, that piece would come to her at a very high price.  Her own father was the key to it, though no other agent would have that access there.  He had no proof, but he knew who ordered the murder of the woman, thus making Jade’s job a lot easier.  She didn’t have to figure out the who or the how, she simply had to get the confession.  For years, Jade waited for a time when they would have enough to warrant an agent to go in to infiltrate the organization.  Though, up until the night she got that call, she didn’t know it would be her own job to do so.   The phone rang a little after 1 a.m., waking the agent from a dead sleep next to Orion in her own apartment.  That call would change everything and in only five hours’ time.  She’d be on a flight to New York City first thing the next morning, a lie fed to everyone she loved that she had been called to Quantico.  This lie would stand with all that knew Jade until the time she returned.  Stealing away to burner phones, she would contact Orion for just minutes per week, letting him know she was okay, asking him to pass this along to Layla and Cael, though he knew where she truly was.  He couldn’t tell a soul though.  Not her brother, not her best friend, not Allison.  He had to carry the weight of her lie just as she had, otherwise the entire operation would not only be jeopardized, but Jade’s own life would be put on the line as well if the organization were to find out there was a Fed among them. Returning to Boston just a few days prior to her reaching out to Layla, she knew everything would be difficult.  She expected Allison to be understanding.  She expected to be given lip from her brother.  But she couldn’t quite pinpoint how Layla would react to it all.  There were ties there that would speak to the open communication of their relationship, though she could only hope that when news broke of the take down of the Martinelli family, Layla would understand why she was left to believe Jade had been safely at Quantico the entire time.  It was the only way.  Thus far, their meeting and reunion had seemed slightly awkward to Jade, and though Layla was not forthcoming with it, Jade could feel it, read it, sense it through and through.  She had been warned that those in her life would wonder about her time away.  They would attempt to connect her to the Martinelli take down.  She was to still say nothing.  The woman she had been, Jaycie, was dead and gone, having committed suicide in an interrogation room.  Jade and Jaycie were to have no connection.  Though Jade lived with a part of Jaycie there within her at all times now. Another sip from the glass and Jade was listening to Layla’s filling her in on a few things that were decorated as good, though the agent knew enough to know they were not.  Layla had never before been interested in self-defense.  Nor had she been a gym buff.  These were signs, tells, that were giving up the secrets neither Layla or anyone else had yet given her.  She was able to derive that something had happened to Layla in Jade’s time away, though Jade wanted more than anything to keep at least one reunion of hers positive, thus her immediate response that would not let on in the slightest to her mind’s workings.  “That’s great, Lay.  Everyone should know how to use a gun, and own one.”  She wouldn’t speak to the fact that she was presently not one of the ones granted possession, pending evals that would likely take the rest of the week before she could even hope to be reinstated. Hearing Layla speak on her professional endeavors was something of bliss for the one who could not speak of her own.  It was all spoken so freely, eloquently, wrapped in the glamour it deserved.  For some, it might leave them envious or jealous, but Jade had no such ambitions.  She was perfectly happy being the friend of Layla Monroe Kennedy, famed beauty, without similar desires for herself.  If she could disappear into a wall most of the time, she’d do it gladly without a moment of pause.  She always did better in the quieter areas, out of the light, even solitude.  The abrupt stop in Layla’s words, Jade was left to fill in the conversation, though it would never be her strong suit.  She always found herself to come off more like she were interrogating instead of being casual, hence her silence that would leave room for Layla to continue should she so desire as Jade sat sipping on that drink until it was gone.

Layla

A heavy silence, thick with tension hangs between both Layla and Jade--for Layla it is expected despite the unsettling nature of it. This is not who they are, granted they have both obviously changed in the past six months, this is still something entirely foreign to the both of them and Layla could feel it in her bones. She doesn’t like it. A sigh pushes past her pout as she leans forward to pour another drink into her lowball--she opts for the bottle instead and leaves the glass remaining on the table. One swig, two swigs and she feels it go straight to her head. That’s another thing that has changed for Laylap--her pension for liquor and ability to drink to more. She never was a drink from the bottle kinda gal much less one to have more than three drinks consecutively. It’s then she settles back and braves a glance at Jade. Conflicted hues lock for the briefest of moments and whether it’s the Irish Whiskey or not Layla swears she can see something dark tumultuously churning within her friend’s hazel pools. She can’t ignore that something instinctual alerts her to the possibility that her best friend has gone through her own hell--trials and tribulations alike. “I’m just gonna cut through the crap,” Layla finally blurts out as she leans forward--hands rolling over her knees in slight nervousness. Yet another change in her over the past few months is a new pension for cutting through the proverbial bullshit of politeness and for absolute candor, even if it may come off as haphazardly blunt. “You look like you feel like Hell. Like you’ve been thrown through the ringer and back.” The statements roll off her tongue in a rush and Layla finds herself biting said tongue briefly. She aims to be blunt, but not that damn blunt. The blonde offers a weak smile. “No offense…. I get the feelin’ things weren’t what we actually believed them to be and I’ll just leave it at that. You know you can always talk to me…. if you /can/ or even just /want/ to,” she states in a softer tone. “That’s all I will say on the matter.” Layla takes another generous swig from the bottle before placing it back on the table. “Better slow down or I’ll be drunk as a skunk,” she actually huffs a genuine laugh just thinking on it. Imagine, Layla Monroe Kennedy--DRUNK! Layla bites back another liquor laced laugh as she falls back into her chair, running a hand through her hair and whistling. “I always have admired you Jade,” she admits seemingly out of the blue. “You’re tough, have been since we were kids… Not to say you’re not sensitive to certain things…. I know you are…. just tough in a way I never was….” she briefly trails off from her ramble--eyes seemingly staring right through Jade rather than at her. “I always had Orion or Uncle Donal…. Declan later on and Dad eventually to look after me.” Layla snorts a laugh this time. “Even with the way I grew up…. There was always someone eager to take care of me or protect me--even from my own mother.” The tone in her voice lowers an octave and she becomes hauntingly ambiguous as to her point. “I was so damn naive.” Another huff and snort is offered simultaneously. She shakes her head and brings her focus back to Jade. “I was so proud of you when you joined the FBI. It takes someone with a strong constitution to do that and go through all that training…. don’t even get me started on the job itself. The stories you have told me and the things I’ve witnessed you go through…. Damn…. I couldn’t do it…. well…. the old Layla couldn’t have….” she mutters. Layla hops up, arms swinging before she slaps her thighs and spreads them wide. “BUT I’MMA NEW WOMAN NOW JADE!” She states with gusto as she slowly makes her way over to the window looking out at the neighborhood. Delicate features are etched with an odd expression--just as odd as her behavior is in the moment. “Soooooo…. I know you probably don’t wanna or aren’t ready to hear it, but I need to tell you something….. somethingssssss… rather.” She eyes her best friend from her peripheral. “There was…. a situation about 3 months ago,” she pauses, eyes remaining on Jade. She takes a deep breath and just comes out with it. “I was kidnapped and held for about a week before Declan found me.” The urge to tell her the rest resides on the tip of her tongue, but she refrains--contemplating just how much she will and can tell Jade about what happened.

Jade

Everyone naturally likes to hear how others are proud of them.  It is only natural to feel good when someone sits before you and points out your best qualities.  For Jade, such was not true.  Hearing Layla go on about who Jade is and how proud she has been of the strength and profession of the woman only makes her feel more disconnected from who she was before than she did before Layla arrived at the apartment.  The fact alone that she was in this apartment instead of her own should speak volumes, and yet it did not.  It would just appear as though she were there, being with her boyfriend after being separated for the last six months.  In actuality, she was hiding.  Everything about the woman was off.  Not just within but on the exterior as well, as was easily taken in by Layla.  Her appearance was off.  Her demeanor was off.  She sat before Layla half the woman she was before. She had seen this with Cael.  She was now seeing it with Layla.  Yet why was it so easy with Orion?  He didn’t point out that she looked like shit.  He didn’t draw on who she used to be.  It was almost as if he fully understood the day she left that she wouldn’t come back the same.  Yet, he was the only one who knew where she had actually been.  If only she could say where she had been, perhaps others would understand a bit more.  Yet Jade was too strong for that.  Jade didn’t want sympathy from any one of them.  She wanted her life back, and yet, she was far too much Jaycie to take over as Jade fully.  Disconnected.  Struggling to put the pieces of Jade’s life back in order again.  There was half Jade, half Jaycie, and as Layla went on about her, telling her the things she had admired about her, Jade felt as if she related to none of them. A vow of silence had fallen there between them before Layla went into a one-woman show, not accepting the silence between them, demanding it to turn louder.  Noise.  Chatter.  A small piece of Jade was relieved, as Layla filled the space in between, but at the same time lost as no part of her felt like the woman Layla described.  She wished she were strong.  If she were, maybe everything wouldn’t be so fucking hard.  But it was.  Everything was.  Her first meeting with Cael was such, thus resulting in her staying with Orion, supposedly temporarily, although a part of her wasn’t sure she’d ever be ready to go back to her apartment.  She wasn’t working and not working was perhaps the hardest thing for the woman.  But her job was done.  The only goal she had ever had for herself was completed, so now what? Each spoken moment from Layla resulted in her rising to her feet, slapping her hands against her thighs to outstretch her arms, announcing that she was a new woman.  The sudden motion had Jade jumping back a bit.  A woman who would have normally burst into laughter at such a moment simply stared in disbelief.  Who was this woman and what had she done with her best friend?  The tide was turning right before her eyes as Layla took on a far more intoxicated state than Jade was accustomed to seeing her wear.  Her motions were quick, excitable, until all of a sudden, they weren’t.

/You need to realize that not everything will be the same.  You aren’t the same.  Neither will the ones you love be.  They’ve had six months, as have you.  A lot can change in that time period.  You can’t expect your former relationships to be the same, nor the people behind them.  You have to ease in.  Take each thing as it comes.  Give yourself time to process it.  Don’t make any brash decisions.  Everything must be taken carefully, slowly.  You can’t jump right back into your life as your life has changed.  Find the constant, it will be there.  Cling to it.  Draw support from it.  But take things as easily as you possibly can for the time being.  One thing at a time.  Ease in, Agent Kerrigan, because too much too fast will send you to a place you are not ready to face./ The words of a therapist instantly shot through her mind.  THIS was not easing in.  This was being thrown in.  Hearing Layla’s mention of a kidnapping in Jade’s absence had her holding her breath.  How could this have happened to her?  What happened to her?  Her facial features had reflected little interaction or emotion up until this point, but now they were completely blank.  She had literally watched as Layla went from a high to this.  Randomly blurting out something so incredibly deep and damaging.  It didn’t make sense to her, but now that it was presented to her, she felt more lost than she had before.  Cael had ridiculed her for her time away, for who she came back as, for abandoning him.  But this?  This was too much.  Not only did she leave everyone in her life, but on top of that, Layla had been abducted.  Taken.  And God knew what else. Orion.  He had said nothing of this to her.  Kid gloves.  Instantly she knew he surely knew and knew he had kept this from her.  What?  To prevent her from breaking?  To shield her from the guilt he knew she would hold in the matter. Her lower lip was then drawn between the clenching of her teeth, the first show of true emotion from the woman as she remained in that chair.  There was but a slight shake to her head as her mind flashed with a million images.  Restraint.  Torture.  Abuse.  An overwhelming feeling surrounded her small frame as she sat in disbelief, staring up at Layla with sympathetic eyes.  If only she could tell her, but she couldn’t.  She couldn’t speak on her own situations, as this was now one hundred percent about Layla and Layla’s fight.  But could she truly hear it? The doctor had told her to take things easy.  It wasn’t easy.  She was torn into pieces before Layla had arrived and now even more so.  “I…” the word hung on her tongue as she uttered it, stunted, unable to complete the thought.  An apology prompted there as she began to offer the traditional sentiment, or what she thought /Jade/ would say.  Jade would ask how, what happened, if she was okay.  But this version of herself was completely dumbfounded as to what to do or say.  It was one of those moments she was searching for the stability, the one constant, the thing to hold onto, but he wasn’t there.  Her hands were trembling as she quickly grasped them together to hide the fact.  She had to say something, anything, and yet the only thing she wanted to do was run.  “I… need a cigarette.”  The words fell carelessly from the mouth of the non-smoker.  But was she?  Jade had been a non-smoker, yet Jaycie clung to the pack.  She had not a single one, nor had she since her return, as she was quite certain it would be frowned upon.  In truth, she hadn’t wanted one until now.  Her bag by the front door.  It had a few in a pack, even if she hadn’t touched them since returning to her life. Rising, she went to the bag, grabbing the near empty pack, withdrawing them and a lighter from within.  It didn’t matter if it wasn’t her in that moment.  She needed that cigarette more now than perhaps ever.  Passing the area of the living space, she walked quickly past Layla, yanking open that patio door, cigarette already pinched between tight lips.  As soon as her feet hit the balcony, she had the lighter drawn up to it, lighting it quickly.  That first inhale felt so good, like home to her.  Not a cough at her lips, speaking to the fact that she had really taken up the habit while her time ‘away at Quantico’.  “Good God…” she managed on the exhale as she finally turned around to look at Layla who still stood within the apartment.  “Don’t tell, O… please.”  She requested as she drew up another drag.  “Declan found you… who did it?”  She asked, a bit of the buried cop within coming forth, jumping straight over what had happened and to the man who had done this.  If he wasn’t already dead, he would be.

-December 1, 2015

[xbostonsfinestx-blog]

Jade Startled by the slamming of the door, she should have expected such from her brother, yet she had hoped maybe things with him had changed a little in her absence.  Immediately, she met Orion with apologetic eyes, knowing well that the sound of that door must have shot unpleasant sensations through his ears.  “Maybe a few days…” she offered in an out loud thought.  Scrunching her nose, she was coming to realize certain aspects of coming home were harder than others.  Though she and Orion seemed to mesh back in quite well together, if not better than before, this didn’t even feel like home to her anymore.  Her things were there.  She knew she belonged there.  Yet she was running from it the first chance she got, back to the first place she had gone when she returned to Boston.  A nervous bite to her lower lip, she sighed her complaint with the entire situation.

Orion Meeting the apology in his ears, he still idly rubbing his hand over his ear. Steadying himself after the strong ringing subsided. Her comment earning a simple nod from the man. “Whatever you think is best.” he added. They were fortunate in the respect that Orion had a guest bedroom in the case that being around somewhat constantly became too much. It was nothing personal as she knew well by now but it worked to their benefit. It allowed him to feel like he had a place to go to collect his thoughts should he need one. Though he rarely did, he hardly felt caged in by it all. She was welcomed there and he managed surprising well after all those years of being told and suspecting he wouldn’t be able to handle so much contact. He could. It just had to be on his terms. “Knew it was too early to drink.” the man added apologetically as he eyed the bottle, thankfully not having touched it so he could now drive.

Jade Catching his glance to that bottle, she grabbed it to bring along with them.  “He doesn’t need anymore, that’s for damn sure.”  Although she hated feeling so out of place in her own home, the night before in Orion’s place had felt comfortable enough to her that she felt okay with going there, if he was alright with her crashing his place for another night, or a few.  She’d force herself back into her reality when she had to, but she clearly wasn’t ready now.  Unsure why she had snapped on her brother the way she had, she had some things to work out within her own mind.  Perhaps he had been right about the changes in her, even if she didn’t truly see the deeper ones yet.  “I’m ready when you are,” she stated, not feeling the need to take anything with her at all.  She held no attachment to anything in the apartment any longer having lived without them for the last six months.  The bag she had returned with was still by the sofa, which she grabbed, knowing there was at least a couple day’s changes of clothes within.  It would suffice.

Orion “Alright…” he stated, nearly asking her if she wanted to grab her own fresh clothes and leave those other ones behind. He reached to pull her bag from his hand, guiding it over his own shoulder before he progressed to the door. Reaching out where he pulled it open, cocking his head over his shoulder to wait for her. Knowing she was feeling remorseful but the damage had been done between the two of them. The escalation was both of their issue to work out yet he felt prone to taking her side. Not only because she was his girlfriend but because Cael was so uptight consistently where as she had only had her brief-flare up.

Jade Meeting his eyes as he looked over his shoulder to her, she took that step towards the door with him, grabbing her keys off the counter as she passed by.  Shoving them into her pocket, she stepped through the open door before him without a second look back.  Things were going to have to change, a lot, this much she knew.  Her flare up had been typical for something from her time undercover, seeping through to her real life, a part of her that Cael would have to come to know.  She couldn’t unsee the things she had seen, nor could she undo the things she had done while under.  They were as much a part of her as the person she had always been before.  Taking pause in the hall of the building, she waited for him to step out, not even bothering to lock that door.  If Cael wanted it locked, he could lock it for all she cared at this point.  “Video games and beer?”  She asked, a small smile finding her features as she quite literally left the problems within the apartment for the time being, feeling free of them almost instantly upon crossing that threshold.

Orion Closing the door behind her, not a moment later hearing her suggestion. He nodded slowly. “No different than my norm.” he teasingly reminded her yet dryly all at once as he kept his hand against the bag strap around his shoulder. Hand idly reaching into his leather jacket pocket where he found his own keys at the ready. Twirling the keyring around his finger as they walked towards the car.

Jade Pressing her lips together, a small smile there as she offered him a nod, she was blissfully thankful for how easy it was with him.  She knew what to expect with him, even after being gone for as long as she had been.  It still felt as though no time passed with him for the most part.  There was something called a norm there.  She relied on it as much as he did.  “I would love nothing more than your norm,” she confessed, heading out of the building with him towards his car, still having yet to even touch her own since her return.  “If we happen to order some pizza or Chinese, I wouldn’t complain.”  Her smile growing slightly the further away from the apartment they found themselves.  Perhaps by the time they got back to his place, she might actually level out completely.

Orion Norm was the norm for Orion. Everything had a schedule and a time and a place. It kept him calm. He needed that regulation in his life. “Funny you should mention it, it is chinese night.” he hummed, having dinner laid out for each day of the week. Arriving to his car where he hit the unlock button on his keys. Walking to the passenger side where he opened the door for her along with the back one, sliding her bag within.

Jade The reminder of Chinese night had her smile instantly growing.  This, his normal, was exactly what she needed.  “Well, then it is simply meant to be,” she commented as she approached that open door, watching as he put her bag in the back before she was stealing his hand for herself, tugging against him where she was instantly stealing his lips without any reservation.  A short hold there at his lips before she was releasing her hold on his hand, flashing him a quick smile.  “I might even share with you,” she teased, starving.  Slipping into the car, she looked up at him as she pulled the seat belt across her body.  “Spring rolls.  Definitely need some spring rolls.”  

Orion Feeling her press his lips back to hers, he cocked a brow upon her statement as she slipped into the car. Waiting until she was done speaking before he was closing the door. Rounding the drivers side where he saved his response to play fight with her. Starting the car. “You better share with me…you don’t have anywhere else to go. I’d have to put you in a box and drop you off at the fire station.” he teased playfully as she already got an idea of what she was after which would save them the further debate.

Jade When the door came to close, she was already bracing herself for his response, sure he would have something witty at his tongue upon his own entry into the vehicle, to which he did not disappoint.  “Right.  Because we waited for one another to be reunited for six months and you’d be done with me the second I polished off the Chinese food without sharing…” she shook her head, not buying into it in the slightest.  “And you’d drop me off… with fire men?”  She added, a lift to her eyes as she continued to shake her head.  “If anything, might have to call the fire department… my boyfriend… pretty hot.”  She reminded him playfully.

Orion “We all have limitations. Mine is Chinese food.” he reminded her with a nonchalant shrug, not too bothered by such a confession. Hearing her follow up as he cocked a brow. Rolling his eyes so hard they might have gotten stuck there. “Oh, come the hell on.” he groaned dramatically, head meeting the head rest as he pulled out of the parking spot. Back into drive. Shaking his head. “First you tell me you are going to eat all the food and now this? anything else you’d like to add?”

Jade His ‘come the hell on’ instantly earned him a laugh there at her lips.  Barely able to catch his last set of questions there before she was shaking her head.  “Uhm… don’t think so…?”  She remarked, a lift in her voice there at the end to suggest maybe, but not at the moment anyways.  Thankful immediately for the man’s ability to make her laugh as her hand came to meet his, an innocent gesture as he pulled out of the lot.  “Oh wait, yes.  There is something I’d like to add.  If I had the choice of a hundred fire men or just you, I’d still take just you.”  A cheesy grin there at her lips as she continued laying it on thick.

Orion Feeling her hand find his free one, he left it at the shift to allow it. Hearing her follow up, he gave up a low groan. "Now I know you're making it up." He accused, eyes seeking out hers before pulling out of the parking lot. "I know you have a thing for firefighters. I heard all about it." He accused. "That's why you like that sub place so much. Just trying to find yourself an exit from the Sherrif's deputy onto bigger and better things."

Jade “Or maybe I just like sub sandwiches…” she remarked honestly, shaking her head.  Orion had nothing to worry about with her, nor had he ever.  It had taken her years to get to where she had last night with him, even before that it was a slow progression to even allow his touch.  They were on a wavelength with one another that onlookers had never understood, nor would they ever.  Normalcy was relative and their normalcy was home for her.  “I might be looking for an exit, but not from the Sherriff’s deputy…”

Orion Knowing all of this about her and about him respectively, he knew he had nothing to worry about. He was merely dryly teasing her in a way many would suspect he was being serious. “Nope, no one likes those that much.” he accused, free hand on the wheel as they turned onto a main stretch of road. “I know an eat-in chinese place, I’d like to go there. You mind? We’ll hit Gamestop on the way home…” he requested, still curious as to what kind of exit she was looking for exactly.

Jade As he pitched something slightly different than what she anticipated, she offered a nod of her head.  “Yeah, that sounds good.”  She slipped her fingers through the spaces between his as she leaned back in her seat, just looking over to him.  Ever since her return the night before, she found it strangely refreshing that she had more than a few minutes via phone.  She’d not seen his face at all in six months, yet now she was desperate to drink him in at every turn, easily confused for staring to any who would witness it, but for her, she was just being with him, faced with the reality of who she was.  “What would you think… if I told you I was thinking of a career move?”  She asked abruptly.  Her question didn’t exactly indicate that which she was thinking, as it may seem she wanted to step up higher within the FBI, but in fact, it was quite the opposite.  It had always been her goal to take down the family responsible for her mother’s death.  Now that it was complete, there was a sense of satisfaction there, but there was also the emptiness as her only goal had been completed, leaving her unsure of what she even wanted moving forward.  

Orion “You want to get a job making subs?” he asked, following the previous conversation topic into this one and curious of what she had in mind. Feeling her fingers lace between his as he felt her eyes on him. A common happening that made him feel slightly shy within his own skin but he allowed it. He could only wonder what was going on in that head of hers. The woman had seemed so caught up on that goal of hers. He could only imagine her life would feel rather empty without it.

Jade “That’s not exactly what I had in mind, but I suppose anything should be considered…” A small smile would take her features as she drew her lower lip between her teeth for a fleeting moment.  “I don’t know what I mean.  I know I never wanted to be an agent though,” she confessed, though this much he would already know.  It was simply the means to an end for her and now that the end had come, she had no idea what would come next.  In her psych eval that morning, she’d been faced with counsel that would encourage no rash decisions be made in the coming days, but that was easier said than done.  “We could move to Fiji, open up a bar on the beach.”  She teased, as if she’d actually go through with it.  

Orion “Riiiight…” he stated, approaching the food place which wasn’t too far away from where they had been to begin with, pulling into the small parking lot where the mom and pop place was a favorite for him. Slipping into park, he glanced over towards her. Seeing right through that one. “What do you have in mind?”

Jade As he parked the car, she couldn’t pretend to know what she had in mind.  She only knew that her life’s mission was complete.  She knew she wasn’t that person who had always dreamed of being an agent.  It wasn’t in her soul the way it was the men and women she worked beside.  A shrug of her shoulders would indicate that she truly had no idea what to do next.  “Dinner and Gamestop.”  She nodded, as those were the only two things she was comfortable making a decision on in the moment.

Orion “So you’re thinking of a career move, you just don’t know what?” he asked, not tolerating the throw off tracks as he killed the car’s engine, watching her shrug as he slowly gave her hand a gentle squeeze. Glancing over and giving her his attention before they left the car’s confines.

Jade A slight nod of her head would answer his question as he turned his focus to her.  “What do you do when you’ve done what you set out to do?”  An honest question leaving her lips as full insight within just what was on her mind.  The emptiness evident there within the barriers of her question, a solemn look taking over the features of her face as she gave full vulnerability there before him.  A question she’d admit to none other than him, knowing she had to make sense of things over the next few days before she was expected to return to a job she held no passion within.

Orion Hearing her give him exactly what he expected from her at somepoint, his lips tightening as he met her eyes. Managing to do so before he was back down at her hand. “You take time to think first…” he added, watching his thumb pass the back of her knuckles. “But if that’s the case…then you think of what else you can do. But honestly, I think you just have to let yourself relax from this. You did what you needed to do. There’s going to be a bit of emptiness in the void but you have to let yourself adjust before jumping into anything else. You are just going to overwhelm yourself.” meeting her eyes, he tilted his head.

Jade Hearing him tell her she did what she had to do, it was a phrase she had said to herself a million times over while she was undercover.  This statement alone would have her drawing in a breath, finding comfort there in his hand against hers.  She nodded her head ever so slightly as she leaned into him, against the constraint of the seat belt.  Her head finding his shoulder, her eyes falling closed as she allowed a moment of closeness there in the small parking lot.  “I did things and I saw things and I’m not…”  She paused, drawing in a breath there against his shoulder.  “The end did not justify the means, but it was still the end.”  An honest confession there at her lips, far more in depth than she had offered him the night before, nor was appropriate for their present atmosphere.  Another full breath there at her lips, though she made no attempt to yet move.  “Talk about it later?  After dinner, maybe?”

Orion “I didn’t think it would…but you were determined.” he reminded her, no one could talk her off of that ledge. He reached out and unbuckled her seatbelt for her as she leaned into him. Hearing her suggestion. He nodded. “As long as you don’t back out of that.” he told her, suggesting he was holding her to that promise and shortly after reached up for her pinky with his.

Jade Feeling that pressure of the seatbelt slip from her, she caught sight of the pinky he offered up to her.  She knew the weight such a thing held with them and would not break it should she accept.  “I won’t back out,” she promised, bringing her pinky up to hook around his, holding there together with his as she lifted her head from his shoulder, her eyes meeting his.  Her face still serious and solemn, she could only take a deep breath in her thankfulness for having a man as invested in her as he was.  “I promise.”

Orion “Okay…” letting her off with that promise, willing to let it go if only briefly as he watched her. Eyes flickering from her lips to her eyes as his brows rose and fell promptly. “Ready for me to eat all your spring rolls?”

Jade Catching that glance of his eyes below to her lips then back up, her own repeating that same action, glancing down to his lips back to his eyes again.  “Yeah… something like that… or nothing like that at all…” she teased.  “Maybe we can share them… if you kiss me first, but it’s going to have to be a pretty good one if you expect me to share food.  You know how long it’s been since I felt comfortable enough to just /eat/?”  She joked, though the joke was partially true, as was evident in the bonier structure she had returned home with.

Orion “You do need it more than I do…” the man confessed thoughtfully, retracting his ever playful concept to steal her food. Matter of fact, he’d encourage her and do quite the opposite. Taking a moment to catch up on that comment about a kiss. Leaning in where he pressed his lips gently to hers, pulling back as he met her eyes. “and I’ll give you a kiss for every plate of food you can finish…” he offered, to make the deal a bit sweeter.

Jade Her own lips meeting softly to his, her pinky only to tighten within his as she met his eyes beyond that exchange.  “Hmm… I think you have yourself a deal.”  A smile taking her lips once more, finally, as only he had been so privileged to ever witness.  “But I will share the Spring rolls.”  She promised, slipping her hand from his to reach for the door handle.  “You ready to do this?  I know you missed seeing your girl devour food as if she had no need to impress…”  she teased, knowing any manners and proper etiquette of slow, tiny bites would be right out the window once she had a plate before her.

Orion “Yeah, I’m ready.” he assured her, stealing another slow. More unsuspecting kiss before he was unbuckling his own seatbelt. Slipping out of the car as his finger unlinked from hers and he met her at the passengers side door to open it for her. Offering his hand to boot. “M’lady…” adding in a mock English accent just for affect. The son of the Shakespearean actor through and through.

Jade The kiss had most certainly caught her by surprise, yet she’d take it without a complaint at her own.  The rare show of such always seeming to mean the most to her.  As he crossed to her side of the vehicle, opening that door for her, she couldn’t even resist that full smile on her lips.  His outstretched hand was met with the delicate tips of her fingers as she slipped from within the vehicle at his request.  “Thank you, Sir.”  She responded, dipping her head slightly as she glanced up to him.  “You should talk like that throughout dinner.”  She teased, knowing he was capable, but finding him to be so damn cute in that moment she couldn’t even resist it.

Orion “You might like that too much.” he offered, closing the door behind her. Back to his own accent seamlessly and without adjustment as he gave her hand a gentle squeeze. Stepping up on the curb and waiting for her to follow suit before he was at the door. Holding it open for her within the small restaurant. Someone already waiting to seat them as they asked how many. A simple rise of two fingers answering for them as they were seated.

Jade A laugh at her lips as his accusation was absolutely true.  She would like it too much and it would potentially ruin just how much she loved the random spurts of it that she would get from time to time.  Her hand there in his until they were at the door, she slipped through, watching as he gestured for their party.  Glancing over her shoulder, she flashed him a smile before her hand was slipping into his again.  “It’s been too long,” she confessed in regards to the last time the two had been able to just go out to dinner together, even if it had once been completely routine.

Orion "It has." He agreed, guiding her where he was guided to a back booth. His usual spot. He was handled with an edge of familiarity as he came here every Tuesday since she had left for dinner. By himself. Establishing a brief break of reclusiveness if only due to its closeness to gamestop as he slipped into the booth. Receiving a menu and ordering a water. Allowing her to her own drink order.

Jade Taking her seat across from his own, she repeated the same drink for herself.  Lifting the menu, she glanced down over the choices, finding just about everything to sound like perfection given her present hunger level.  Since her own return, she’d not found a moment to eat, being pulled in for the psych eval, then going home to the mess that was her brother, this would be the first time she’d actually acknowledged those hunger pangs within her.  “We need like one of everything,” she commented, a slight grin there at her lips, making good on both that which she had told him about how she would devour food, but also the deal he had offered her.  “That’s like fifty kisses or something… you sure you can manage?”  She asked, her eyes directing back to his over the top of the menu.

Orion "Don't worry about me..." he directed as he didn't bother opening the menu. Always getting the same thing by now and they knew his order. Watching as their drinks arrived and his mouth found his straw. Glancing over towards her. "What are you feeling?"

Jade “Hunger.”  She commented honestly, though knowing it wasn’t what he was asking.  Her eyes finding the menu again, scouring over the items as she familiarized herself with a menu she would surely come to know well in the coming weeks beyond her return to a life of normalcy.  “I’m thinking moo goo gai pan and spring rolls.”  She nodded, deciding as she placed the menu down against the table.  “Or teriyaki steak…” she added, not quite sure which to commit to, evident in the slight bite to her lower lip as she reached for her drink.

Orion “You don’t say…” he added, tapping his fingers to the table to a beat all of his own as he gave up her order suggestions. Humming softly in return. “I get the shrimp with mixed vegetables in garlic sauce, which, in passing, I always ordered when I didn’t have to worry about being around someone…” he remarked, his voice trailing off. “Wonton and bourbon chicken, order of crab rangoons…sometimes a pizza roll if I’m really hungry.” he added, somehow the pizza roll being the hungry indicator in all that.

Jade Her eyes lit up at the list he rambled off.  Though she had already seen it in ink, it wasn’t quite the same as hearing them from his mouth.  A hum there at her lips as she slowly offered a nod of her head.  “Yes.  To all of that.  Minus the garlic, because, well….” She teased as she brought her drink to her lips, taking a drink from within before she was slipping her menu to the edge of the table, a silent indicator that they were ready to order.  “Worst case scenario, we have breakfast in the morning too.”  

Orion “You’re not going to want those kisses after that…guess I’ll just ask for it on the side.” he teased with a knowing smirk, pressing his forearms to the side of the table where his arms ran vertically. Hands crossing. Pressing his chin to his extended thumbs which passed under it. Watching her, he shook his head. “Nope, you’re finishing it.”

Jade “No garlic,” she repeated, watching as he took his position on the matter of her left overs.  “Then I’m getting a Spring roll and calling it a damn night,” she countered.  She might have been starving at the moment, but it had been entirely too long since she’d eaten in that manner.  She knew her stomach couldn’t hold those amounts of food, though she wanted them on the table.  As the waitress arrived at the table, Jade was quickly looking up to her with a daring smirk.  “ONE Spring roll please.”  She then directed her eyes to Orion, that smirk firmly in place, waiting to see what he’d do with that.

Orion As she blatantly challenged him, his eyes slipped up to the waitress. Letting her have her spring roll as he ordered for them both as he so often did. Rattling off his usual and both options she had been considering before. Knowing she wouldn’t most likely finish anything but between all of that, she’d have to view some of it as appealing and eat something. Asking for the garlic sauce on the side as well, he watched the waitress slip off to the back kitchen.

Jade As he took control over the order, she was quickly on to what he was doing there.  As the waitress headed off, she couldn’t and wouldn’t correct the order, finding him entirely too adorable in that moment to even try it.  “You cheated.  And you ordered garlic… which means you don’t want a repeat of last night…” she offered, her voice lifting slightly as she indicated the level of intimacy they had shared the night before.  Returning to her glass once more for another sip of the water before flashing him a telling smile.

Orion “That’s what they have tooth brushes for.” he remarked as she teased him with what was happening the night before. Taking advantage of how long the man had waited for that very instance. Watching her smiling at him, quite satisfied with herself. His strong jaw idly clenched. Hardly moving. The stoic man so many knew there upon negotiations at the table.

Jade “Mmm… I suppose you have a point there…” she offered, a slow nod of her head, as it wouldn’t take too much convincing to get her there again now that she’d been there once after the long and painful road to actually getting there with the well-deserving man who should have earned a fucking medal for his patience on the matter.  “But don’t brush your teeth until after I whoop ass at gaming.  I’d rather not have that as an option, seeing as it might give you some unfair game advantage…” she reasoned, though the very fact that she hadn’t touched a controller in six months would already play in his favor.

Orion “My ‘unfair’ game advantage is the fact that i’m me and your you. That’s unfair enough.” he added confidently as he brushed his thumbs underneath of his chin at the declaration. Now knowing he /had/ to brush his teeth before the video games or go without the side garlic. Both seemed like good options as he kept his eyes focused on her.

Jade Eyeing him as he made his little declaration, shaking her head.  “I came back for this abuse…” she mumbled as though it wasn’t worth it, all the while that teasing nature showing itself as it only did with him.  Had Cael made a mention such as that, she would have been in his face, easily finding herself set off since her return.  A situation she now understood a bit more after her psych eval, though it wouldn’t make those snaps feel any less overwhelming.  Thankfully, she had only faced the one up until now, even if she hadn’t recognized it as such in the moment.  “How about you just tell me how happy you are to have a dinner date again and we’ll call it even?”

Orion “Yes, you are so ill treated…” he remarked at the mention of abuse, both of them knowing better as he heard her follow up question. Shaking his head as if he wouldn’t go for it. “How about I don’t need to be bribed to tell you that.” he offered instead. “I used to come here every tuesday by myself and the only reason I could force myself out to eat is because I’d go to Gamestop after. Every tuesday…” the man hummed as he glanced around the perimeter of the restaurant.

Jade A lift of her eyes at his mention of her being ill treated, as though she were agreeing, yet all in a teasing manner.  Hearing his offer, she couldn’t help but smile softly at the idea that he’d tell her that anyways.  Her smile on fading slightly as she gained a bit of insight as to what his life had looked like in her own absence.  “Sounds like an expensive few months…” she reasoned, catching that path of his eyes.  Knowing better than to follow them completely as it would stand too obvious should he be on to something.  Instead, she lifted her glass to her lips, pausing there before the rim would meet her lower tier.  “What have you got?”  She asked quietly, her paranoia now showing itself to him as she brought the glass to tilt against her, drawing in the liquid.

Orion “You’d be surprised. 60 bucks for a new game, 25 dollars here. Less than a hundred dollars in food per week…being a recluse let me save money.” he stated honestly, between his cop income and what he got on the side from his grandparent’s business. The man had seen too drastic sides of life. He knew what it was to be hungry and broke to having more money than he’d ever know what to do with. Now, he fell somewhere between. His eyes were back down towards hers, shaking his head. He was merely remembering those nights.

Jade The list laid out for her of his weekly expenses, she was quite surprised.  Their nightly take out order had been far steeper than that game and this restaurant put together, especially when adding it up nightly, plus lunches.  As his eyes returned to her own with that shake of his head, she gave up a breath of relief.  An edge she had never lived on before, she’d now live on for potentially the rest of her life in light of things she had done and partaken in, never quite knowing if someone would be seeking retribution much in the way she had.  A moment later, the food was arriving at the table, much to her approval.  As the single spring roll was placed before her, the rest of the food placed before him, she had to laugh at how literally they had taken the order as if it had truly shaken out in this manner.

Orion Watching as the food arrived, he glanced over towards her. Her laugh ringing through his ears. “You’re not getting off that easy…” he reminded her honestly as he reached out for his soup. Unwrapping his silverware as his eyes sought out hers. Shaking his head. “You are going to make it so I can’t come back to this place. They are going to be like ‘remember that guy who ordered everything off the left side of the menu and his girlfriend got a roll?’” he stated, a shake of his head in playful notion.

Jade “Not my fault my date put me on a three dollar budget…” she teased as though it were true, opening the small dish of sweet and sour sauce to dip her spring roll in.  Glancing over her shoulder, hoping someone was sitting in the booth behind theirs to have heard the remark to no avail.  She returned her eyes to set upon his, a smirk to her lips.  “You’re in luck.  No one will think that, except the waitress maybe… and you know, she’ll just go talk in her native language to everyone else… and they’ll be like standing here at the side of the table, talking about it, and we won’t even know.  So see, restaurant not ruined in the slightest.”  She teased as she finally lifted the lowly spring roll to dip it within the heated sauce, bringing it to her lips, sinking her teeth within with a dramatic sigh at how incredible it tasted.

Orion “That doesn’t mean they aren’t still talking.” he stated, as if them talking in a language he didn’t understand made it any better. Watching her deep sigh which caused a crack to his lips. Ready to ruin that roll for her as he found his spoon within the napkin. “Alot of oblong objects and sighing going on around here recently.” he hummed, dipping the spoon into the soup as he severed a wonton and half. Bringing that one half to his lips.

Jade His statement about them talking settled on her without any reaction.  She already knew her statement hadn’t been heard and if they had seen the man weekly in her absence, they’d know his order and note the alteration therein.  It would be his next statement that would have her nearly choking on the contents within her mouth, a spring roll hitting a plate, her hand coming up over her mouth as a series of coughs followed.

Orion “See, now you get the idea.” he teased as she seemed to choke on something. Reaching out for her drink to help her out a bit from the agony he had inflicted on her. Knowing it was going to get a reaction but maybe not that one though if she didn’t die on a springroll, he might be quite proud of himself for it.

Jade The incessant coughs continued even as he offered her glass to her.  Lifting it to her lips, she took a small sip from within, seemingly assisting that piece of food to make its way out of her throat even as her eyes started to water.  “You just tried to… kill me… I have you know…” she teased as she took another sip of the water, a soreness there in her throat instantly from having the piece of food lodged there for the minute or two it had been.  “And now I’ll never quite look at a spring roll quite the same.”

Orion “I did nothing.” he returned at her teasing, refusing to take blame for that for now but maybe later he’d claim it. Smirking at her last statement. Another bit of his soup to his mouth. Unable to choke on that as it was rather difficult. “You’re welcome.” he stated, sliding the bowl of soup over towards her. “Here, have some…it goes down easy unlike the spring rolls…”

Jade “Spring rolls were only my favorite thing in the world.  You took them from me and now you want me to eat… drink… no way, dude.  Not even a fair compromise,” she offered as she stuck with her glass of water, shaking her head.  “Nope.  No soup for me.”  She teased, a laugh already there behind her lips as she returned her glass to the table, slipping her hand back on that spring roll, half tempted to chuck it at his head as she moved the plate over out of the way to take the teriyaki steak.  “Any great comments about this before I put it in my mouth and you go down for my death?”

Orion Growling low as he pulled the soup back into him, leaving it to the side of the table just in case she changed her mind as he moved onto his mixed vegetables and shrimp. Hearing her statement about the steak bringing him to cock a brow. It was getting too easy and she was barely even stopping herself. “Think you just said it for me, quite frankly.”

Jade “You are shitting me, right?”  She asked, not having realized at all what she had said, prompting her to shake her head.  “I’m done.  Done.  Wrap it up.  Take it home.  Midnight snack, maybe.  I cannot.  I’m done talking.  I’m done eating.  I’m literally going to sit here and quietly watch you eat because apparently everything I do or say is making that look come to your face and I refuse to die tonight.  Refuse.  I didn’t come home to die from Chinese food and my boyfriend’s cocked brow.”

Orion “Oh come on. It’s not /that/ bad…” he stated honestly, trying not to laugh but giving up a few hiccups just unable to help himself out of her antics. “You’re gonna’ have to help me out with some of this…” he requested, still subtly smirking at her. “You like my cocked brow. You forget.” he remarked as he found his fork to grab a piece of steamed vegetable.

Jade “Mmm, that I do…” she confessed, glancing over the food to which she would no longer make any mentions of verbally seeing as everything she said was apparently phallic.  Drawing the plate of teriyaki steak before her once again, her own manner of eating the dish as she used her fork to slide the pieces of steak from the skewer to then be eaten with the fork.  “Need me to make an announcement that I’m helping you eat your order?  That your eyes were bigger than your stomach?”  She teased, that winning smile crossing between them as she brought up a piece of steak to break up that smile.

Orion “I think we’ll be alright.” watching her make a point to scrape off the steak, he had to smirk. He would have had a field day with that one as he didn’t grab the side garlic sauce. Luckily for her. Going for a bit of pepper and salt instead. He shook his head at her. “Nah, not today.” he stated simply as he took another bite of food. Glancing back over towards her.

Jade Offering him a simple smile as she finished off that bite of food, the beast unleashed as she went for another before she would speak again.  “This.  So good.”  A passing comment as she was there at another.  There was something about eating in front of someone else that never quite sat right with her, yet with Orion, she felt no need to maintain appearances.  Complete comfort in the ability to be herself, regardless of what that would entail.  Eyeing as he opted for the salt and pepper instead of the garlic, she had to give a grateful smile until she realized this meant more of an upper edge for him in the gaming arena.  “You forgot your garlic…” she suggested, a little manipulative, but making no secret of it.

Orion “Trust me, I know.” he commented, as the vegetables weren’t even half as good as they normally were but it was a sacrifice he was about to make. He’d let her think it was for the gaming benefit though he knew the truth behind it. “I’m glad you are eating though…and enjoying…” the man confessed, suddenly serious as his eyes cast up towards her from dark brows. Wanting to see it continue. “Don’t want to have to start having weigh-ins for you…”

Jade The turn from playful to serious was well noted as she looked across the table from him.  His concern was endearing, even appreciated.  “Of course I’m going to eat, and enjoy it.”  The smile was there, though the light was fading as she slipped within her own thoughts.  The weight loss was something she had not noticed in the course, yet in the end couldn’t help but be faced with wondering how she would not.  She knew though exactly how it had happened and some of that would take time to pass.  Almost saying something, but holding it back, knowing she was not to speak of such things.  She would speak of them later, as she had promised, but not over dinner.  The mere thought of which had her lowering her fork to the table, too far into her own mind to be able to properly consume the food for the moment.  “Excuse me a moment?”  She requested, rising from her seat.  

Orion "After you." He stated mildly as she stood up, shaking his head as he cursed himself for his mouth. Always managing to make other people uncomfortable despite the good intent. Mildly disappointed in himself as he laid down his fork and glanced up towards her.

Jade Managing a half smile for his benefit, she turned towards the entry of the restaurant, making a sharp right at the door to head down the short hallway to the restroom.  A few minutes later, she returned to the table, her face slightly paler than when she had left.  “So what kind of game are you thinking?”  She asked, attempting to bring things back around to a more comfortable topic as she lifted her fork to snag another piece of steak as though she had never left the table to begin with.

Orion Watching her return, he had resolved not to say anything to her yet his eyes would betray him. Hoping what he speculated would happen had not happened as he reached his hand across the table. "Something two player." He hummed. "Maybe the new madden..."

Jade A nod there at her head at his suggestion, she found the placement of his hand reaching across the table, bringing her own free hand to meet his.  “That would work,” she agreed, bringing her fork to her mouth again as she lifted her eyes to meet his.  Finishing a few more bites before she could manage no further, laying down her fork in defeat as she reached for her water.  “You take your time, I just can’t.”  She stated, leaning back in the seat a bit to insinuate she was full, a somewhat satisfied smile there to her lips.

Orion "Think I'm going to need a box..." he remarked honestly, filling quickly as he was losing his appetite. Glancing up to meet her smile. Washing it down with the rest of the water in his cup. "Still not too late to do shots of this garlic sauce though."

Jade “Or five…” she grinned as she eyed the unfinished plates of food on the table.  A slow shake of her head side to side to that garlic shot remark of his as she was not one bit interested in having that one play out.  “How about we take the garlic sauce home and maybe you can take it to work with you tomorrow for lunch…”  The shake of her head converting to a nod as she liked the idea of him consuming that without her far better.

Orion "A box or five." He reasoned, hearing her rationalization of the garlic sauce. He nodded his head. "That's a good idea...keeps away the vampires and w-" interrupted as he watched the door opening. Eyes narrowing as a blond entered alongside of an older man. Glancing back towards her, an idle shake of his head as he asked for a box and a check from the waitress.

Jade “Exactly,” she returned, a smile taking her features as he broke off his thought verbally, the narrowing of his eyes speaking volumes.  Again, she dared not turn her head, though the idle shake of her head would easily indicate it was not a cause for true alarm, more or less something displeasing.  As he asked for the box and check, she was already honed into his demeanor.  “Hey…”  A slight tightening of her hand in his laid against the table top.  “Eyes here.”  She reminded him, attempting to hold his attention from whatever it was that had stolen it momentarily.

Orion Hearing her speak about lifting his eyes, he was focused down. Getting the box as he guided his food within. Shaking his head all the while as he did it before he heard his name. Sighing as his eyes lifted towards the woman nearly shuffling towards him. Hand at his shoulder as she immediately swept in for a hug. Seeing her coming. Bracing. Nearly going stiff through it as she pulled back. 'It's so nice to see you again, how are you?' She asked, he nodded lowly. Glancing back to Jade. "Good, yourself?" He asked as he looked back at her, the woman reading the contact of his eyes towards Jade. A nod, gently patting his shoulder. 'Good, we'll catch up sometime. I'll leave you to it.' She added, he nodded simply. Watching the woman trail off, exhaling slowly.

Jade As Jade attempted to gain his eye contact, it was lost to the food that he would move from the plate to the box, prompting her to withdraw her hand from his to allow this to happen.  As a woman approached, Jade watched the interaction between the two, catching Orion’s eyes for a brief moment between, though remaining silent.  The woman seemed all too comfortable with him, though Orion did not seem to reciprocate.  A question there at her own tongue, though she held it within herself as the woman slipped off.  Visually taking in the way Orion’s body relaxed at her exit, though she knew not what to say.  Reaching for the box, she closed the lid for him, allowing him that moment of recovery.  “So… Gamestop then?”  She asked as the check was brought to the table a moment later.

Orion Exhaling another slow breath though he itched his neck until his skin was read. By now, wanting a shower as he heard her speak. Nodding. Watching as she closed it from him. An apologetic glance as he stood. Offering her his hands. An explanation on his lips, it just wasn't seeming to come out due to his physical discomfort.

Jade Taking his hand, she rose from her seat, taking a moment of pause there as her eyes were searching him over.  “Hey, we don’t have to…” she offered, her eyes attempting to capture his as she offered him a reassuring glance.  Her ability to read his discomfort had apparently not been lost in the months she was away, at this point only wanting to get the man out of the restaurant and into the car where perhaps he would speak again in something more than the release of a held breath and apologetic glance.  “Just go back to your place?  Figure out the rest when we get there?”

Orion "Touchy feely people just get under my fucking skin." He complained quietly, another itch to his neck. Hearing her suggestion. He said nothing. Not even in the position to comprehend this question as he paid the bill and left it on the table. Guiding her out of the place into the fresh air towards the car.

Jade She knew his statement to be true, but that still didn’t quite fill in the blanks as to who, or why this woman felt that she could approach in the manner she had, yet Jade would push no further as she slipped through the door with him into the chilling Boston air.  In route towards the car, her hand lightly within his, she was only left to the reminder of how far she and Orion had come that her own touch did not cause the man to dig at his flesh in the manner that he was.  Taking in a deep breath, she lifted her chin to look up at him, a comforting smile offered.

Orion Glancing down towards her, managing to take in a deep breath as he unlocked the car. Wanting atleast the privacy of the car before he went into the story. Spotting her smile, not having one of his own to offer up at the moment. Merely still shaking his head in a familiar motion.

Jade As he unlocked the car, she drew in another deep breath before she would lower herself into the car. Clearly she was missing something, yet that was a feeling she had come to know quite well in her time away. Only left to wait for him to join her within the vehicle and perhaps in some form of communication. She hated when he was uncomfortable, though she had witnessed it and been a part of it a million times over. It didn't make it any easier to endure. When he was uncomfortable, she found him to be completely closed off, even to her advances to bring him back, only left to be by his side, weathering it through until he was ready to rejoin her.

Orion Closing the door as she slipped in, he walked towards his side of the car. Slipping within as he started the car and breathed a sigh of relief as he slipped his head to the headrest. Almost feeling safe as he closed his eyes. A low moment to glance over towards her. Drumming up a low “I’m sorry.” he exhaled once again. “It’s not as bad as it looks. Promise. I just…”

Jade As he offered an apology, she was instantly dismissing it. He had done nothing to be sorry for, but as he continued, she would have that nasty feeling in the pit of her stomach that perhaps things weren't what she thought they were. Hearing they weren't as bad as they looked, she drew in a heavy breath as she braced herself. Her eyes falling from his to her own lap as he hung on that thought a moment beyond what was comfortable. Daring not to interrupt the man, a distant feeling settling in.

Orion Hearing her settle into the silence and letting him continue. “The guys at the station, in lieu of your absence…tried to convince me that you weren’t coming back.” he confessed as his eyes shifted over towards hers. “That you’d move on and that I was just holding onto something that was gone and when I wouldn’t acknowledge it, they tried to push me out of my comfort zone. That woman…” he began, chin gesturing towards the restaurant. “Is a defense attorney. She’d seen me around a bit and they tried to hook us up. She used to show up at the station and bring me shit and she always wanted to go out but I always got out of it and she never quite got the hint…”

Jade As soon as he began, she felt all of their years flash before her eyes. Knowing now that the guys at his station, most of which had seen her there for lunch over the past several years, were all willing to dismiss her in her absence, that feeling that hit her within the restaurant rose up in the back of her throat yet again. Though hearing him admit he never went through with the invitations, there was a bit of relief in there that he hadn't lost faith. She couldn't help but wonder what he might have thought in that time had she not maintained those weekly calls to him. She had made them to keep that much of herself intact, to feel connected to him, though not fearing that he would give up on her in the process. "Thank you for telling me..." She offered, though her mind was clearly spinning. Shutting a portion of herself off temporarily to try to see it from a more logical perspective.

Orion “Yeah…” he stated simply as she thanked him, not great at tone but knowing the woman well enough to work out what she must have been thinking. Learning from past circumstances that this wouldn’t go over well. “And would not stop touching me and it just…no.” he stated, shaking his head as he pulled the car into reverse, pulling out of the spot. “Just too much.”

Jade Hearing the reminder of the woman touching him, striking her in ways that could only be described as pure disgust. It had taken herself and Orion years to get where they were, yet the woman who had been so brave as to interrupt their dinner with a display of her physical advances, it was too much. She drew in a deep breath, needing to get out of her own head, though failing miserably. Yet another reminder of how difficult it was to integrate into a life that was once her own. "I'm sorry..." An apology of her own, though the reasons undisclosed as she attempted a slow breath as the walls of the car felt as though they were closing in all too fast.

Orion “I’m sorry. I’m sorry that had to happen.” he stated, stealing her apology. Wanting it for himself as he glanced over towards her. Knowing he had effectively ruined everything for the night. He should have told the woman to leave everytime she came in. He just wanted to preserve decent working relationships with her knowing they’d have access to one another in the future. Especially with how close the feds were coming with these new cases.

Jade Deep breaths. Reminding herself it wasn't of his doing. Words of the psychologist running through her mind as she heard his returned apology. "It's okay," she stated, as convincingly as possible. After the altercation with Cael earlier, she refused to let anything else ruin the first full night she would have home. She had seen red, snapping on Cael in a manner that may have been slightly uncalled for. Somehow, she was managing to keep such a reaction at arms length here through methods of deep breathing and fleeting moments of logic. "Promise." She stated as she brought her hand to his thigh, instigating a touch with limited hesitation on her part.

Orion He shook his head at her promise, he knew better. He might not have been great at reading into things but this was too much of a stretch. Even for her. Even for them. Pulling out of the parking lot. His hand slowly slipped down over her. Showing none of the revolt he had for the other woman. Giving her hand a gentle squeeze as his head pressed to the headrest. “For what it’s worth, Jade…I do love you…"

Jade As his hand slipped over her own, she drew in a soft breath, that bit of contact there speaking to their refusal to give up on the night or their relationship for that matter. His words had a slow smile to her lips. "It's worth more than you know," she admitted as it had been that knowledge alone that had kept her holding it together. Finally turning her head towards him, her hand offering a gentle squeeze to his thigh. "I love you, Orion. Always have, always will."  An honest statement in the middle of a shitty transition back to reality.

Orion “As long as you know that.” he stated, knowing she was probably mad at him and she could be. He’d let her even if he didn’t quite understand. Mad at him, the circumstances. As long as she knew that he loved her and hadn’t done anything. Clearly. His reaction to the woman was nothing if not visceral. He was just as untouched as he had been by anyone else’s hands but hers. “You still want to go to Gamestop or you just want to call it a night?”

Jade "I do," she promised as it was absolutely true. The question of continuing with the plan was one she'd take a moment on. Her lips forming a firm line, she already knew what the both of them would more than likely find comfort in, though that slight uncertainty would be enough to cause pause within her. "Honestly?"  She asked, words threatening to come forth that may have never passed her lips before. "Can we just go to your place and..."  Another pause as she hung up on the request as she drew in a breath. "I want to be close to you right now."

Orion “Okay.” he stated simply, the upcoming fork in the road quickly taken back to the apartment instead of the other way. He nodded simply. Not too upset by that. With her around, he didn’t need the game. He didn’t need to fill time and face and just keep himself from thinking as he had. He could focus on what he truly needed to focus on. Not quite sure what that ‘and’ entailed but regardless, he’d be fine with it.

Jade After the altercation with Cael, she had wanted to run away from a place she had called home for years.  With the honest confessions from Orion, she just wanted to draw near to him.  Lost somewhere in her own transition back to reality, finding turn after turn of what had changed or where she didn’t belong, she was quickly finding the only place she drew any comfort at all was in the arms of the man beside her.  A newfound revelation in their relationship would be a place of comfort for her as there, she knew her place well.  There was nothing there left to reveal, nor people to interrupt.  There was no outburst of her needing to be controlled as her brother had insinuated earlier in the night.  Upon a return to reality, many agents found themselves lost in the bottom of bottles when their lives fell apart.  Jade, doing nothing by the standard in her entire life, would seek to lose herself in him.

Orion Taking most of the rest of the trip home in silence, he got into the apartment parking lot in record time. Pulling into his usual vacant parking spot before he shifted into park. Glancing over towards her, wanting to be close to her as well. An odd feeling for the man who literally just wanted to mesh with her at that point. In an intimacy that they were comfortable with. Not necessarily of the sexual nature either. Killing the engine, he slipped out of the car. Grabbing his food before he met her at the passenger side.

Jade As the car was put to rest, she was strangely wrapped in the comfort of the silence that had transpired between them.  Slipping from the car, she found him there at the passenger’s side, as he always was, a routine that she could rely upon.  A half smile finding her lips as she found a place there beneath his arm, tucking herself into him the moment it was available, her arm coming behind him in a way she regretted not doing within the restaurant.  A possessiveness rising within her that she didn’t know existed within her as she hated the very idea of another woman… quickly shaking the thought from her mind, she looked up to him, already seeming a bit more relaxed just to find a closeness against him.

Orion Slipping his arm around her shoulders to allow them some closeness and to walk all at once. His lips found her temple. Guiding the food box infront of her. “Please?” he asked, needing her to hold it so he could navigate the doors and such. Watching as they got to the front of the building where he quickly popped in a code to access the door. Accessing his keys in his pocket once that had been accomplished.

Jade A slow nod of her head was paired with her free hand taking the take out from his hand, easily complying if it meant they could remain this close as they made their way through the door of the building.  Not stepping away from his side as she felt his own arm around her, finding great comfort in the smallest of gestures.  Realizing they had left the bottle of alcohol and her own bag of clothes in the car, she didn’t even care enough to mention it.  Once they were at his door, the side of her face finding a place there at his chest, a place she had thought about being throughout the entire silence of the car ride.  

Orion Getting to the front of his apartment door, he felt at his chest. Leaning in where he kissed her forehead. Getting the door open a moment later as he held it open for her, sweeping his arm forward to see her within as they both stepped within. Reaching out to turn on the light as he closed the door behind him. A lock and a deadbolt sweeping behind them.

Jade As they entered the apartment, she stayed there at his side for as long as she could before things needed to happen.  She slipped off into the kitchen, placing the leftovers within the refrigerator, skimming the contents of the fridge even as she did so.  Withdrawing two beers, she glanced over at him as if to ask if he’d like one as he locked the door and got the lights on within the apartment.  As far as she saw it, they both needed to round out the edges a bit after the hellacious evening they had, though she still held great hope for salvaging what was important anyways.

Orion Watching her slip to the kitchen, by the time she returned, he was already sitting down on the couch. Getting his shoes off to get comfortable as he watched her. Nodding at the non-verbal suggestion as he got himself comfortable. Hands resting on the back of his neck and sprawling out over the couch that seemed almost small underneath of him.

Jade As he got comfortable on the sofa, she was slipping from within the kitchen, beers in hand.  Placing them on the coffee table before him, she rid herself of her shoes as well, directly followed by unfastening her jeans to slip them down as well, wasting no time to get herself comfortable.  Reaching down for her beer and his, she found a small space at his side to position herself beside him, passing his beer there into his hand though not relinquishing control of the bottle quite yet.  “It’s gonna cost ya,” she offered, a hint of that playfulness returning to her as she finally had most everything she wanted again.

Orion Watching her as he reached up, fingers curling around the neck of the beer. Giving a gentle tug at her statement. Cocking a brow in curiosity as he glanced over towards her. “Yeah? What’s the rate for a bottle of your own beer?” he asked curiously as he watched her. Unable to tease her much for getting comfortable as he had done the same pretty quickly.

Jade “Hmm…” she offered as though she were in thought, bringing both legs to drape over his thigh as she brought herself even closer to him, still managing to hold onto that bottle as she pretended to think it over.  “I don’t know… I mean… it couldn’t be too steep considering it /is/ your beer, but I mean, it was delivered to you… by a girl with no pants… that’s certainly worth a little /something/…”

Orion “Well, she should tell her terms and we’ll talk about negotiating…” he offered, feeling her legs drifting over him as he glanced down towards her in closer proximity. “Or I might have to drink hers.” he threatened, settling his head down beside hers with a soft smirk, fingers still curled around the neck of the bottle.

Jade A simplistic moment that was far too needed, she’d keep it up for as long as possible as she finally felt full relaxation coming over her.  “Well… she might consider a kiss…”  she scrunched her nose as if that wouldn’t be quite enough.  “Or she might rather you whisk her off to bed…”  A slow nod found her head as she held on to both bottles still.  “Or maybe she’d prefer a combination of the two, but she isn’t going to be giving you her beer…”

Orion “Mmm…well…only one way to figure out which one is which.” playing along, he leaned in. Hand leaving the bottle as that same hand found the side of her neck. Thumb grazing her jaw before he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers. This whole ‘whisking off to bed’ business now having new meaning and he’d be lying if he said he didn’t quite like the concept as his lips enveloped her bottom one methodically.

Jade As his hand left the bottle, she could already anticipate his kiss to her lips would not just be his lips to her own.  The feeling of his hand to the side of her neck, then the addition of his thumb to her jawline, she was melting there beside him before his lips ever met her own.  Drawing in a deep breath just as his lips met her own, taking to her lower tier as she maintained the bottles within her hands.  A soft hum there at her lips as she found herself at a disadvantage not being able to touch him in return.  Slowly withdrawing before he could find his stride there, a slow shake to her head as though his time there had expired and it had not earned him possession of his beer.  “I think it earned yourself at least… a sip.”

Orion Watching her withdrawl, he opened his eyes. Leaning in for his sip of beer which he stole more of a mouthful with her assistance as she held the bottle. "Did my beers increase value because of inflation or something?" He had to ask honestly, playing along with her game as his free hand remained against her neck.

Jade “Your beer’s cost increased because your girlfriend is back and delivers it in her underwear?”  She offered with a raise to her voice there at the end as if she was slightly unsure.  Assisting that sip from the bottle though the temptation was just too real.  One tilt of the bottle and he had beer spilled upon the front of his shirt.  “Oh would you look at that.  The beer gods didn’t like you discounting the cost of a sip much…”

Orion Sighing lowly at her as she spilled it on him, he glanced down. Hating the feeling of wet clothing. Reaching up where he thought to wipe off his chin but instead he leaned forward. Pressing into her shirt to wipe off his mouth and return the favor. Reaching up and desperately needing it off. One of his pet peeves was what she had enforced on him as he pulled off his shirt. Most likely to her enjoyment though he still felt the fluid on his bare skin.

Jade The wipe of his chin to her own shirt didn’t faze her in the slightest, a laugh already there at her lips as she watched him sighing a complaint at that which she had done.  As his shirt was pulled from him, she leaned back away, taking the opportunity to take a long drink from her own bottle as she eyed the spectacle before her.  Encouraging bad behavior as she saw it, seeing as the penalty for her spilling beer on him had him revealing his flesh to her eyes.  “Mmm,” she hummed as she leaned back to where she had been, resisting the urge to place a kiss at his now bared chest.  “So you want to try to earn this beer again?”  She asked, a lift of her eyes as if to suggest she liked the progress thus far.

Orion Not able to take the feeling a moment later, it was more for him than her though hearing her approval came as no surprise to him. Meeting her eyes as he heard her question. "Depends. Does it require me taking my pants off?" He asked honestly as there seemed to be a theme at hand.

Jade A shrug of her shoulders came as she heard his question, pretending as though she wasn’t making the rules to this game, just playing by them.  “I mean, who am I to say what the beer gods will and won’t permit you to say… if you want to keep your pants, maybe you should do so by keeping your tongue… in…”  A slow pass of her teeth over her lip, dragging the tier through before it was released again.  “Check.”

Orion Narrowing his eyes at her, already looking for a way to narrow the playing field. "Then I guess I'll keep them on...maybe I'll go get a new shirt." He offered, playing back at her now as he acted as if he would lean up from her and stand up.

Jade Eyeing him, already knowing if he was to stand, she’d promptly land on her ass on the floor more than likely, she’d call his bluff on that one.  “Or maybe you should try the second option from before seeing as the first didn’t quite work…” she reasoned, taking another sip from her beer there in plain sight before him as she didn’t have to earn her bottle.

Orion “Mmm…” he hummed, leaning over her where his lips pressed back to hers. Seeing where that got him though his lift to move had rendered him nearly ontop of her. Reaching out where his hand found the beer bottle. Knowing that if he played his cards right, he could get it quickly and cleanly from her without another drop spilled.

Jade As he came over her, she pressed her beer laced lips to his as she held on to both bottles.  Feeling his hand find the bottle, she relinquished it into his grasp as she brought her hand to the back of his neck.  Her other hand still holding her bottle, reaching her arm out to find the edge of the coffee table, placing her own bottle to the edge then pushing it gently back as she freed both of her hands.  Bringing her free hand to the side of his face, allowing herself to fully check out of the world and into that kiss as she leaned back, attempting to bring him with her.

Orion Getting that beer, it would be all too brief a victory yet nearly as quick as he got it. He felt her hands finding him. Still cool from the bottle’s grip. Leaning in as she did, seemingly serious until he reached down. Fingers tracing her side, pushing up her shirt a few inches only to press the cold bottle to her side and get even. Blatantly laughing to her lips.

Jade Allowing herself to completely get lost in the kiss there at his lips, finding it to be the perfect way out of the entire evening that had thrown one curve ball after another at the two.  She felt him lifting the edge of her shirt, much to her approval right up until the point the cold bottle was brought against her flesh.  Her hands instantly pushing against him, she drew her legs up under her, by way of his inner thigh a little too close for comfort as she pushed away from him, a scream there at her lips where his laugh resided.  “Orion!  C’mon now!  I was being sweet!!”

Orion Laughing at her reaction as she pushed at her knee to avoid the inevitable. “What? Not fun when you get what you give, is it?” he teased, still working that knee of hers down before he took a mouthful of his beer. Placing it down on the coffee table as he gave her his complete attention again. Still smirking all the mean while. “Alright, alright.”

Jade “I didn’t put the bottle against your stomach!”  She argued, shaking her head as a full pout developed against her lips, her hand slipping beneath her own shirt to wipe away that cold condensation he left behind.  As he enjoyed his sip of beer, she couldn’t help but admire the man, even if she might want to kick his ass in the moment.  The smirk on his lips the best thing she’d seen all night.  “Mhm… now you get to make it right…” she suggested, a slight lift of her chin, the threatening smile itching at the corners of her mouth as she slowly gave in to it.  

Orion “Yeah?” he asked, that smirk seeming like she already had quite a bit in mind for him as he leaned back over her. Eyeing the lift of her chin as he leaned in, nudging his nose to hers as he watched her smile forming. Reaching up where he thumbed at the corner of her giving lips to prompt that smile.

Jade The feeling of his thumb urging her smile upwards, she couldn’t even resist it.  The fact was, he made her happy.  He was the only one that made her truly happy.  Even with the blonde and the realization that people had urged him to move on from her, in the end it didn’t matter.  “No.”  She whispered, a slight shake of her head, her nose meeting his in each small gesture.  “You don’t have to make anything right… It already is.”  As the whispered words fell from her lips, she gave a slight tilt to her head, her lips quickly finding his as she brought one hand up against the side of his face once more, allowing those more serious feelings to pass through the kiss, a little less playful than it had been, but far more heartfelt.  

Orion “That’s better.” he hummed, liking the sound of that far better than the other option, watching her tilt her head before her lips found his. Feeling her at the side of his face as his lips pressed back to hers. Head tilting slightly as he allowed her to seek him out and manage that for a period of time as his lips smoothed over hers. His thumb passing down the side of her jaw.

Jade Her hand kept soft to the side of his face as her lips found his, finding a depth in a moment in the middle of what had been a playfulness between the two.  This man was easily her everything.  This was home for her.  The rest of the world made no sense to her, but this did.  As their lips made soft passes against one another’s, her hand slipped from the side of his face to find the back of his neck, drawing herself that much closer to him.  Not stealing the kiss away from him this time, her lips taking to his lower lip, then to his upper as she gave him that which she already knew he enjoyed.

Orion Feeling her give him his preferred position, he smiled softly as he stole to her lower lip. Feeling her at his top one as they sealed entirely to one another. Feeling her against the back of his neck as he leaned in and pressed his lips a bit harder back to hers. Loving this woman perhaps more than he’d like to as that vulnerability was an unfamiliar emotion on the man but she had his heart and he knew she had his in return so maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad thing after all.

Jade Her free hand lifting to the back of his upper arm, a stronger grip there to match the firmness there in his kiss.  Welcoming the greater intensity as her heart rate increased.  Drawing him with her as she leaned back across the sofa, one of her legs manipulating to slip behind him to permit him to easily come over her entirely as she lured him closer.  Her desires had been made clear to him in the car, closeness, to which she was inching them closer and closer towards.  Thoughts of her brother and the restaurant blonde slipping from her mind as she found the most important truth there within their joined lips.

Orion -feeling her mesh to allow him access, he leaned further over her. Pressing his lips back to hers as they engaged in one of their infamous makeout sessions. He was pretty sure they could have set some records once before with these considering their saga-like lengths that no one seemed to get tired of. Feeling her at the back of his arm as his hand slipped down to her shoulder overtop of her shirt as his tongue met the part of her lips;

Jade Drawing him to come completely over her, one foot pressed to the sofa behind them, the other falling off the side of the sofa, toes barely touching the flooring below.  The brush of his tongue slipping through the part of his lips to request entry to her own, she allowed him that sweep once more before she’d part her own lips to his.  A deeper tilt of her head as her tongue was there to greet his upon that entrance.  Nearly breaking that kiss as a thought flashed through her mind, bringing a smile to threaten the intimacy there as she nearly broke into laughter, barely holding on to the moment as she brought both arms to wrap around his neck.

Orion Feeling her arms around his neck despite the fact that her lips said quite the opposite. Feeling the familiar tightening of a smile as his lips slowly withdrew from hers. Meeting her eyes as she leaned back. Cocking a brow. Only able to imagine what she had going on with her in that moment. Seeking an answer he wasn’t sure he’d find from her. “Yeah? Is it funny?”

Jade As he withdrew from her, there was simply no containing the laugh at her lips now as she leaned her forehead to rest at his shoulder.  Giving herself that moment as she nodded her head in response to his question.  “I don’t know what happened.  I’m laying here, kissing you, thoroughly enjoying… everything… and then I just get this thought…”  Lifting her head from where she had been hiding at his shoulder to meet his eyes, finally prepared to let him in on her thoughts there a moment before.  “I was just wondering if you were glad you passed on the garlic sauce…?”

Orion Feeling her at his shoulder at his shoulder and the confession about the garlic sauce had him smirking softly, meeting her eyes with a shake of his head. “I’m kissing you and you are focused on garlic sauce…” he added, cocking a brow. “You know, that really speaks to our priorities here.” he followed up playfully with a shake of his head.

Jade “No, no, you are my priority.  I swear it!”  She responded quickly as she got her laughter under control, shaking her head as though that would get the last of it out.  “Okay.  Let’s do it again.  Kiss me.”  She nodded, a soft bite there to her lower lip as her lips started to curve upwards again, only leading to a laugh to spill through once more, returning her back at his shoulder again, clearly not completely over the question she had on her mind when kissing him a moment before.  “So what’s the answer?  I can’t go on until I know!  Is my kiss worth less flavorful veggies?”  The laughter cascaded from her lips against the flesh of his shoulder, her arms remaining tightly wrapped around his neck as she would not let him slip from her even if she was caught in a fit of laughter.

Orion “Just for that, I’m calling you ‘Jadakiss.’” he threatened, the ever infamous childhood nickname returning to the forefront as it had been hidden for long enough. Hearing her question luring a soft grunt from him as he pressed his face into the side of her neck. Clearly getting comfortable as if he might fall asleep there since she was enjoying herself so much.

Jade “Nooooooo,” she groaned into his shoulder as she felt him taking up residence there at her neck.  Attempting to squirm her way out of that one, turning her face into his as she lifted her shoulder, attempting to capture his lips once more.  A few tries before she’d find them, pressing her lips to his quickly.  “See, look.  Not laughing.  Not a bit of laughter.”  A kiss falling to his lips after each statement as she attempted to lure him back to her again.  “O… please…”

Orion Making a snoring noise as he didn’t believe her, burrowing a little deeper into her neck, feeling her managing to snag his lips as he burrowed into her. “I’m sorry, non garlic vegetables make me tired…” he complained lowly, voice barely audible to her skin.

Jade In a dramatic show of defeat, she brought both arms from him, flinging them up over the arm of the sofa her head rested upon.  “Fiiiine,” she complained, a pout there at her lips as she stared at the ceiling.  “But.  You have to kiss me goodnight first…” she reminded him, realizing just what this meant if he did go to sleep, and that wasn’t all bad either.

Orion Leaning up, he quickly snagged his lips to hers but burrowing back within her neck where he had been before she could retaliate. Knowing her all too well at this point but moving quickly as he leaned into her if only to see what she would do at this point. Humming contently as if he’d actually go through with it.

Jade Her plan foiled as he stole her kiss, then found his way back to her neck before she could rightfully capture him again.  He knew her too well, that was true.  Even six months away wouldn’t change that.  “Girlfriend’s home less than 24 hours and you’re already over it.”  She teased, nudging her shoulder against his face.  “Okay, you’ve proven your point.  If you’re going to sleep, then can you not do that right on top of me?  You’re heavy.”  She teased, attempting a new angle with him.

Orion “I’ll never be over my girlfriend.” he argued, muffled. But arguing nonetheless. Not even liking how that sounded even if she was joking, feeling her against his shoulder as his head lifted. Eyeing her as his eyes narrowed. “Oh, now you care that I’m heavy. Right? Don’t mind any other time…” he teased in response, leaning in where he rested the side of his face on her chest. “Too bad that you are the most comfortable spot in the house.”

Jade A hum met her lips as she heard him state he would never be over her.  That statement alone would be one she’d hold on to and hold him to for all of eternity.  As he eyed her to readjust, she brought one arm to cradle the back of his head, her fingertips softly finding the side of his face as he found himself a spot there against her.  “Okay, okay,” she obliged, knowing a way to get out of it, but letting it fall by the wayside as she had asked for closeness and this was getting her out of something far worse than being laid on.  “But you wake up and we move to the bed.”  She reminded him as the sofa was just not going to be big enough or comfortable enough for a full night’s sleep.

Orion Nodding, the sudden wave of tiredness requiring he’d either go down or needed to be jolted away rather quickly. Hearing her allow him his nap. “Mmm…” he hummed as he let his head rest to her chest. “Is it sad that I missed sleeping on you?” he asked tiredly as his eyes swept up to meet hers.  Something that unknowingly carried a weight of intimacy.

Jade Lowering her chin to meet his eyes as he looked up to her, she already had a smile there on her lips.  “Is it sad that I missed you sleeping on me?”  She asked truthfully.  She might give him a hard time about it, but the truth was there in the touch of her hand against his face as she traced the curve of his facial structure.  In truth, she had missed everything with the man, unable to be away from him a single day longer than she had to be.  “I missed all of it,” she confessed, lifting her head slightly to press a kiss to the top of his forehead before leaning her head back against the arm of the sofa.

Orion “Mmm…good, plenty where that comes from. I’ll spare you the couch treatment though…” he decided honestly, knowing she wouldn’t be comfortable as he slowly leaned himself on his hands. Pulling from her so he could stand up and reach for her hand to help her up as well. “Off we go.”

Jade Laying there on the sofa as he got up, spotting that outstretched hand of his, a slow smile swept her features.  “You finally gonna try option two?”  She asked, maintaining her spot there against the sofa as option two had nothing to do with her feet hitting the floor in the foreseeable future.  A lift of her eyes suggestively.  

Orion Not sure what option 2 was but seeing her not much working with him. He reached for her hand. Fingers curling around her wrist as he leaned in, pulling her arm around his head as his other hand swept her legs. Pulling her with ease over his shoulder and from the couch. “Whisking” her off to bed as she had put it as he walked down the hall and into the bedroom. Whistling nonchalantly all the while as if this was completely normal.

Jade As he brought her arm around his neck, her smile only brightened up until the moment he hoisted her small frame up over his shoulder.  “This is not what option two was!”  She declared, a laugh there at her lips once again.  “This is not whisking me to the bedroom… this is… this is hauling me to the bedroom!”  Her argument waged all the way through the bedroom door through the laughter at her lips.  “This is /not/ how they do it in the movies!”

Orion “Good thing we’re not in the movies…” he reminded her as he got to the side of the bed before dumping her onto it with ease, cracking his knuckles as a sign of a job well done. Quite proud of himself for it truth be told as he glanced down towards her. Taking his time in finding his spot on the bed before laying down.

Jade Looking up at him as he took that moment to gloat over his accomplishment, half contemplating stealing his side of the bed before he was already there at it, a step ahead of her as usual.  Keeping the mood light, she slipped her hand over his.  “Goodnight, O.”  She offered, a soft smile to her lips as she laid beside him just watching him to see if he was truly going to go to sleep.

Orion “Goodnight, Jadakiss.” he teased with a wink as he got comfortable, grabbing his pillow that crossed over his arm. Closing his eyes as he laid onto his back. Making it clear that he was serious about that sleep as he got comfortable. Finding his peace rather quickly and knowing it was only a matter of time until it took over.

Jade Drawing in a deep breath as she watched him, coming face to face with the realization the man was actually checking out on her for the night, she let him keep that nickname intact for the time being.  After several quiet moments, she withdrew her hand, bringing it beneath her face to prop her head up slightly as she laid there watching him.  Not liking the way the silence settled in, but having to come face to face with it at some point.

Orion Feeling her hand move from his, he quickly dragged his arm around her. Pulling her into him to reallow that closeness as his arm remained around her. Having gone too long without her, not wanting to deal with it tonight as he pulled her to his side. Again tempted to burrow away at her neck.

Jade As his arm came around her, dragging her to him, she pressed a quick kiss to his temple as he found a place there at her neck.  “Go to sleep,” she encouraged, her hand coming to rest against his side only to pull her body closer to his.  Wrapping themselves in one another even as his apparent exhaustion set in.  “I love you,” she promised, releasing a nerve-filled breath as she closed her own eyes.

Orion Opening his eyes as he heard her I love you, eyes searching hers. As if even if something laid there, he'd be able to understand it. Yet, all he could tell was that something was off. "You don't sound so sure about that..." he ventured as his eyes remained on hers. Hand passing over her back.

Jade “Of course I’m sure about that,” she quickly whispered, without a single doubt within her mind.  Feeling his hand there at her back, an ever comforting touch offered beneath his fingertips that she missed so much while they were apart.  “Just as sure about that as I am in the breath I take in.”  A soft smile forming there at her lips as she met his eyes even through the darkness of the room, faces only barely illuminated by the light of the moon seeping in through the blinds.  “Rest assured,” she whispered, placing a soft kiss to his lips before she was withdrawing.  Her hand at his side coming to the side of his face, simply staring into his eyes, taking him in visually as she tried to work out just what it was that made him think she wasn’t sure of her love for him.

Orion It wasn't that he doubted her love, he just doubted something about her in that moment that he couldn't quite put his finger on. He wouldn't be able to sleep until he figured it out as he lifted his head. Resting it on his hand. Suggesting he was staying up for now. "You seem...upset about something?" He ventured, a potential shot in the dark.

Jade That soft smile remained in place even as he propped his head there against his hand.  His question showing her just how in tune he was to her even still, though he was slightly off with his assumption.  “No.  I’m not upset at all.”  An honest assurance there at her lips as she took another deep breath, not allowing much more than that to pass before she would open up her mind to the man knowing his concern was always pure.  “I don’t want to go to sleep?”  She offered, far too familiar with that which may or may not reside just behind closed eyes.  Hit or miss, never quite knowing when they would surface, but knowing the potential was there every time.  One demon exchanged for another, formerly the choices of another infringed upon her youth, now the choices of her own haunting her when she was defenseless.

Orion "Ah." He stated strongly at her explanation, it all made sense now. How he had not realized that sooner, he wasn't too sure but it was now right there before him. "well, I'll stay up with you then..." he remarked honestly, remaining leaned up before he reached for the remote of the TV. Flipping it on for a bit of background noise so it wasn't so tempting. Deciding atleast that if she would struggle, he would do the same.

Jade A knowing glance the instant his ‘ah’ left his lips that he would not be going to sleep either.  As he reached for the remote, turning the television on, she kept her eyes there to his.  “Don’t you have… I don’t know… a job?”  She asked, knowing just because she was on leave until the slew of psychologists would pass her for field work again, it didn’t mean he had that same luxury, if it could be called that seeing as thus far integrating back into normalcy had been filled with frustration for her outside of this apartment.  “You should sleep and when you awake, I’ll be right here… who knows, you might even have a completely clean apartment by then.”  She teased as if to say she’d find something to occupy her time if need be until she found complete exhaustion, such as she had the night before, to the point that her fears could not dictate her sleep as it would then be out of pure necessity.  

Orion "Me? A job? Never.. " he hummed, shaking his head at the concept. As they both knew, Orion was always on call for the funeral home. The burner phone somewhere on his person at all time was called anytime there was business meaning there was a pick-up. Day, night. Death never had convenient times nor did his schedule. His day job was atleast, for the most part, consistent. Shaking his head at the concept of clean as it was already pretty flawless. "Going to take a toothbrush to the grout?" He teased. His eyes idly sweeping to the TV. "I'll be alright." He determined with a confident nod.

Jade “Hmm,” she offered, not too sure about all of that, knowing the man needed his rest far more than she did at this point in time.  Resolving to his wishes, as there was simply no way around it.  As his eyes met the television, a nod there to his head, she closed the bit of gap there between them, her face resting against his chest as he watched the television.  “I might start there, wind up cleaning out the cabinets, bleaching baseboards, you’d be surprised what I could find to clean.”  Her hand slipping from his face to rest just beside her face at his chest, a light touch as she idly brushed his bare chest with her fingertips.  “I’m okay,” she offered, as much for her own benefit as for his, a deep breath there to follow as she rested against him, giving him a peaceful environment so that he might sleep.

Orion Feeling her seek out his bare chest, he knew he couldn't doubt her cleaning resourcefulness and he wouldn't. Shaking his head. "It's hard to best out someone who is just as OCD as you." He reminded her honestly, feeling the travel of her fingers as his eyes swept back down towsrds her. "I know you're okay." He stated honestly, pressing his lips to her forehead. "I don't want to stay up with you because I feel like I have to. I don't want you to feel alone." He explained as he felt her settle in. His hand gently resuming at her back.

Jade "This is probably true," she offered, having only slightly let it slip her mind how evenly matched their ocd could be.  As he spoke, she stayed silent there at his chest, his forehead kiss bringing a smile to her face. After a long pause there, letting his words sink in completely, she had possibly never felt more loved by the man. "I know I'm not alone," she whispered, a feeling in and of itself that was worth the world to her. Having been in the company she had over the last six months, braving it alone in a crowd of strangers, she appreciated it more now than ever before. There weren't words to quite describe it out loud, only hoping he could read it there within her. "I missed you," she confessed as if he didn't already know, yet bring there with him would continue to have a surreal feeling for the undetermined future. "Thanks for not giving up on me."

Orion Snorting at the concept of giving up on her. "Oh stop." He insisted, knowing he missed her just as much though that had never been lonely. Had it been hard? Absolutely. Had he doubted himself and what they had? Naturally but giving up on her merely was not an option. "There isn't a big market for autistic undertakers/deputy's now days anyway...good luck trying to put me up on market. Won't even get asking price." He teased as his hand skirted up her back.

Jade Officially dropping her thanks for his not giving up on them, she'd not mention it again now that she was quite certain he knew how much she appreciated it. She hadn't thought about him moving on from her until he filled her in on the blonde. A thought that still had her tensing over the idea. "Good thing there's not a price I would be willing to let you go for. You're just stuck with me."  Lifting her chin slightly to catch his eyes, offering him a more relaxed and less forced smile. "Not a big market for women that aren't open to being touched for years on end either," she reminded him, further proof they were more than matched in that regard.

Orion "I don't know...those women don't typically look like you. Think you are well worth the wait." He hummed honestly at her return, the back of his fingers tracing her cheek.

Jade "You waited for me because of my looks?"  She asked, a slight laugh there at her lips, not buying into that for even a single moment.  "Love had nothing to do with that one, right?"  Shaking her head, she slipped up slightly, stealing his lips for her own, as if to convince him that she was worth more than whatever it was he saw in her looks before drawing back to meet his eyes once more.  "So... seriously... now that you're /wait/ is finally over... was it... okay?"  Not daring to ask if it was worth it, but certainly interested to know that it had been okay in the least.

Orion "Yeah." He answered, smirking as they both knew there was alot more in it than. Atleast he knew they could play around and they both knew the truth. "No love, all lust." He teased with a wink, hearing her follow up. Hearing her question. He nodded. "A plus...best part is, I don't even have to pay for it this time." He teased, leaning into kiss her lips.

Jade "Mhm..." She offered to his remark of it being driven purely on his lust for her that would permit him to wait years to be with her in that manner. Before she could comment on his stated perk there, he was already capturing her lips with his own. Pressing her lips back to his, feeling more at ease all the time, she held that kiss a moment before exchanging it for smaller pecks between phrases. "Well... I didn't know what career move to make...but that might have to... Make the short list."  She teased there at his lips. She may have finally managed not to shut down on him, but the very thought of someone else touching her would still bring out the same reactions it always had before. "Or... Just start charging you..."

Orion "I think you should make subs instead." He confessed, a shake of his head upon her follow up statement. "You'd be cutting into my video game fund." He whined, pouting at her lips. "You wouldn't want to do that to me and you know it." He remarked, a brief cock of his brow. "Plus, you don't make off so bad. Maybe I should charge you."

Jade "I couldn't charge much though.  My experience level leaves something to be desired..." She confessed, reasoning it couldn't damage his gaming fund much. "You'd prefer me with the firefighters...?"  Her eyes lifting to match his own as she brought one leg up over his, not daring to allow much space there even as they joked inappropriately.

Orion "No firefighters..." playfully smacking her hand before he pointed a finger towards her. Managing not to smile as he felt her leg over his own leg. "You have to pick a side. Cops or firefighters...you can't have both."

Jade The slap to her finger had a gasp at her lips out of pure surprise, directly followed by a laugh at her lips. "But..." She offered as she pretended to be dissatisfied with her options there. "Well... I guess...." She paused as though she were thinking it over, the laugh leaving a smile there at her lips as she brought that leg further over him, making a little more progress every moment. " Okay... I choose you."  Her tone speaking to a concession there as though she were settling, all the while feeling like the luckiest girl in the world to have a man who could not only make her feel so loved, but make her laugh the way he always managed to do. "What about you?  If not me, then... Attorneys?"

Orion "No attorneys." He reasoned with a shake of his head. "No attorneys, no firefighters. No nothing else." He stated honestly as his hand settled over hers. "She's like 41 too..." he stated matter of factly. Shaking his head. "You're stuck with me. Choose me and throw out the pokeball."

Jade "Chose you a long time ago. Bout time you chose me back," she teased, a grin there to her lips as he took her hand into his. Slipping the rest of the way over him, her eyes focused on him completely. "41, huh?  I don't know about all of that..." She stated honestly as that sounded a million years away. "Guess it's a good thing I came back when I did then," she offered playfully, her nose nudging the side of his as her lips brushed softly against his own.

Orion "I know..." he hummed at the mention of the woman's age, glancing up towards her. Her offering bringing a subtle nod. "Good thing...would have made cougar bait out of me." He stated honestly, feeling her nose at him. "You didn't choose me any earlier than I chose you. Don't try to make it sound like I was somekind of prize."

Jade "Think you need to give yourself a little bit of credit here. You are a prize and you won't convince me otherwise," she demanded, not allowing such a thing to be argued. She had spent her life wrapped up in that man and would not tolerate him seeing himself any other way than that which she saw him. "Don't talk down about my boyfriend," she teased, stealing his lips before allowing him any further discussion on the matter. One hand captured by his, the other finding the side of his face as she laid over top of him, her knees pressed to the bed on either side of him.  Lifting from his lips for a brief moment, she whispered, "shh, no arguing," before he could do such a thing. Her lips gravitating back to his immediately, feeling she had possibly effectively silenced the man and his nonsense of being no prize.

Orion "Absolutely not." He returned at the concept of him being a prize. He felt nothing short of useless more nights than not despite her best attempt. Her telling him not to argue was greeted with an argumentative grunt as she slipped overtop of him. Feeling her against his lips, he knew she was attempting to silence him and he allowed it. It worked to his benefit as his hands found her hips.

Jade She'd let him have that last little phrase in there, though it mattered not his opinion on this.  She would maintain the final say on it and argue it until she was blue in the face if need be.  In truth, it seemed he was the only place that fit upon her return.  Even with the little bit there that had surfaced upon news of the blonde and her involvement upon Jade's departure, even that wasn't remotely close to setting Jade's sights off of the man.  He was the love of her life, hands down, and the one person thus far that had made her return feel remotely welcomed.  Her lips against his own, a softness there against his lips even through his grunt.  The feeling of his hands at her hips had her drawing in breath there against his lips, a smile finding the space between that kiss as she couldn't help but let it slip through.  The hand at his face slipping beneath the back of his neck, a firmness there in her fingertips as she pressed her lips to his with an ever growing intent.

Orion Pressing his lips back to hers, angling slightly to better meet her kiss. Feeling her there to the back of his neck and giving her leave to guide more of her hand to him. Hands gently squeezing at her hips . Fingers chasing up her sides as he inhaled slowly at her lips.

Jade An almost difference there in her kiss as she knew where it could lead and no longer held the fear and reservation that once resided just behind each kiss between the two of this intensity.  A freedom there as she pressed her lips more firmly to his, feeling that slight lift allowing her hand to find full placement at the back of his neck.  The grip of his own hands against her hips prompting the ever so slight shift of her lower body beneath his hold as his hands began to move upward.  Her pants vacated within the living room along with his shirt, allowing her free hand to move down his own side, fingertips to skin, pausing momentarily to grip possessively at him the way he was to her.  Very much so liking the feel of that, especially given a certain blonde that night.  Though increasingly more confident in that kiss, still not quite ready to take the lead beyond that which she had already done.  

Orion While the two were in no way unfamiliar to kissing, there was a different way to her all together in that moment. The taste of something more than just that. Even if that was not necessarily where it led. He wouldn't expect such a thing every night. Knowing it could be rare and few between and he wouldn't find a single complaint on his lips. Feeling her at his side as his grip on her reflected the same. Leaning up further against her.

Jade The difference alone was a sense of comfort in her own sexuality.  The fears being released from her entirely, allowing her to put herself completely into the moment without the nervousness that she may back out in the end if it were to lead to more.  There was almost a fire there behind her kiss that had not been there before.  Yet it could have been the threat of the blonde as the driving force.  She couldn’t put her finger on it, nor did she care to, as all she wanted in that very moment was to kiss the man endlessly, for the rest of her days.  Feeling him lifting up further, she supported the back of his neck, drawing herself to sit upwards as well, her legs coming to wrap around him as she brought him upright seated before her.  A slight edge of power there, to match the intensity of her kiss at his lips.  Finally drawing back, taking in a smooth breath as a smile graced her lips.  Her hand finding the side of his neck again as she leaned in to the other, pressing her lips there to the curve of his neck in a far softer manner than she had been at his lips.  “I could let you sleep…” she whispered, knowing that’s where it had all begun, also knowing there wasn’t a chance in hell she’d let him now.

Orion Feeling her legs drawing as he sat up, he felt her drawing back. Meeting her eyes as she found his neck both with her hands and lips. Arms slipping around her, hearing her whisper making him smirk softly. "Now you tell me." He teasingly remarked as his hand firmly found her back, a reassuring pass over her spine. Not enough to push her forward or move her. Just enough to tell her that he wasn't complaining

Jade A smirk there at the arc of his neck as her lips trailed the contour of his flesh, she had told him earlier, quite specifically in fact.  The movement of his hand over her back had her drawing steady closer to him, as if it were possible, pressing her upper body closer to his.  Her lips followed that curve to his shoulder, soft kisses placed against his flesh until she paused, a turn of her head to rest her cheek against his shoulder.  “I did tell you,” she reminded him softly, her hand slipping from the side of his neck to his upper arm, light touches as she barely brushed her fingertips against him.  “And you still can.  Just say the word.”  An honest offer as she did know he had to work the following day, her desires for him not yet beyond her control.  

Orion Feeling her trail to his shoulder and her reminder, he knew that much to be true rven as he felt her to his skin. "No." He concluded decisively, not a hint of argument possible there. "I want to stay up with you." He stated, still firm in his resolve. Knowing she was worth a bit of residual fatigue the next day if only to be able to spend the time with her.

Jade Watching the contour of his face as he made his decision quite clear and not to be argued with, she couldn’t be too upset by it considering.  It was completely his decision and she’d given him more than one opportunity to get some sleep in.  Yet who could expect him to after she had only just returned the night before.  This thought alone drew her to suddenly lift from his shoulder, her eyes setting in on his.  “Wait.  The guys at work who tried to set you up with the blonde… what did they say today?”  The night before had been purely amazing in her own opinion, the perfect reunion.  As she left for the first psych evals of many to come over the course of the next week, she was truly beaming in the newfound territory of their relationship.  Having rejoined him at her own apartment that evening and all that had transpired over the course of the evening, she hadn’t asked, though she didn’t have much of a reason until after the discovery of the blonde intruder.

Orion Hearing her sudden question, he shook his head. Not quite expecting it. His arms tightened around her. He shook his head. "I don't like when they talk about you. They know better. It gets me mad, puts me in a bad mood. If they say something, it's not to my face. They are not my friends..." being the youngest deputy in Boston history made alot of guys twice his age try to be buddy buddy with him and they quickly discovered his limitations and got a flare up of temper that exceeded normal standards.

Jade That tightening of his arms around her could nearly be read as protective as he drew her in closer to him.  “You don’t like when they talk about me…”  She let that hang in the air between them a moment as she tried to shake it out for herself.  “Ohhh let me guess.  Your girlfriend is a bitch Fed who thinks she’s better than everyone else.  Close?”  She asked, knowing they weren’t his friends, yet also having always found them to be mostly accommodating when she’d come down for lunch with Orion in the past.  “All the more reason for me not to be a Fed anymore.”  She reminded him, as if her little theory might be true.  Though she didn’t even know if they knew she was back in the first place seeing as she had no time to have stopped by that day, even though she had wanted to a million times if only to get out of the evaluation process.  “Maybe tomorrow, I bail on the evals and spend the day shadowing you.”  She teased.  “You wouldn’t make me go through a psych eval a day for a week first, would ya?”

Orion "My business is none of their business...not to mention I'd never let anyone disrespect you." He reminded her, not quite sure why she was so concerned as it seemed like such a small issue. "I don't listen to them. I have bigger things to worry about than water cooler chatter. But I don't think it's something you should worry about." He reminded her. Shaking his head. "No, absolutely not. Your job is going to those evals." Not even a moment of hesitation, knowing it wouldn't be what she wanted to hear. "I need you to be okay. You've been through alot." He reminded her, pressing his lips gently to her forehead.

Jade She shrugged her shoulders, not quite sure why it mattered to her what they thought beyond the knowledge that they had tried to set him up, potentially the thing that had set her off on that line of questioning to begin with.  As he quickly shut down her offer to bail on evals, she felt his kiss there at her forehead.  “I told you I’m okay…” she whispered, releasing a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding.  She couldn’t argue that she’d been through something, but knowing that she got a repeat of this day over and over through the next week or until the bureau was satisfied with her mental state on paper had her already dreading waking up the next day.  “We could be sick.”  She suggested with a light shrug of her shoulders, quite willing to do most anything to get out of having to sit before more doctors the following day.  

Orion "Then the appointments should be easy, right?" He asked, playing appeasement tactics though the fact that she couldn't sleep suggested more had happened with her than what she would suggest. Shaking his head at that last suggestion. "No can do Jade...you go to your doctors appointment and relax. That's all you need to focus on...I need you to promise me that you will do that." The man added, increased seriousness as he met her eyes.

Jade His statement instantly had a cut there to her eyes.  He was far too smart for her own good when it came to turning the tables on her.  Calling her bluff easily as the appointment that day had been pure hell and put her on an edge that Cael ended up catching the sharp corner of.  His request for her promise had her eyes darting up to the ceiling before they closed in a moment of thought.  “If I’m not even staying on then why bother going through it?  I don’t need a clean psych eval to work in a sub shop,” she reminded him as if she could distract him away from this line of thinking altogether.  Pinky promise or not, it didn’t make it any more comfortable to think about.  

Orion "You need a clean psych eval to lead a productive and mildly healthy life...don't act like you don't know why this is important." He reminded her, still not hearing her promise as she glanced up yet he remained watching her. "Think about it, if I was in your shoes and you were in mine...you'd let me off without getting cleared? Knowing anything could have happened out there? Even things that I'm not telling you?"

Jade Feeling as though the walls were closing in on her yet again, she drew in a deep breath.  Her eyes reopening to meet his as she felt herself on the very edge she had already faced earlier in the night with Cael over something that was there for her own good at his lips.  “I told you last night that I would tell you anything you wanted to know.  Anything.  It stands, okay.  You want to know what I did, what I saw?  That’s all the fucking therapists want from me too.  To make sure I’m handling and processing it well.  Well, I’m not.  But they don’t want to hear that.  They want me to smile and nod my head like I didn’t do anything but go on a six month vacation.  Make sure I’m fit to return to work Monday and then what?  Then what do I do?  They don’t know.  I don’t know.  No one fucking knows what I’m supposed to do, but they all just want me to do it.  Just go through the motions, pass the tests.  Three missed calls on my phone today from Flanagan.  Were they to make sure I was settling in okay?  No.  They were to tell me he needed me back at work.  Cael stared at me like he didn’t know me tonight.  You think what?  I’m not open to talking about what I did?  What I witnessed?  I am.  Drill me.  Ask me and I’ll tell you.  But forgive me if I’d rather play sick with you than face another panel of questions from shrink number 2.”  She paused only for a slight shake of her head before her eyes were back at his.  “And what do you do if they say I’m fucked in the head?  PTSD or some shit like that?  Then what?  Then you waited for me only for me to come back more damaged than I was when I left.”  Fighting back the tears threatening her eyes, willing them not to break through as that would only further the evidence there that she was far from as alright as she believed everyone needed her to be.

Orion Hearing the rant, he wasn't too surprised as he navigated his back to the headboard. Sliding her slong as he watched her eyes welling. Teeth finding his bottom lip. Still cool and collected. "Work will always be there. There's always going to be crime and people to get but there isn't always going to be a time where damage can be identified and worked on...so no, no one wants to hear you are okay if you are not. You are the one choosing to lie and make things more difficult on yourself by trying to keep up a facade that no one is expecting of you. You are literally putting all this weight on yourself to be okay and no one is expecting you to be.. " he finally stated as he read it in her eyes. "You have trained professionals there willing to help you. Don't let your pride stand in the way. Accept the help and get your head worked out and figure it out from there." He stated conclusively, knowing it wasn't what she wanted to hear but he didn't know how to put this in any other way.

Jade Though his words made for perfect sense, it was only further proof to her that she had traded one form of damage for another.  She knew he was right, though she wasn’t ready to hear it yet.  Her mind was still entirely too focused on that which she saw in her brother’s eyes that night, in the way the blonde approached Orion as if it were her place to do so right in front of his girlfriend.  Meshing back in to her former reality wasn’t even possible if she wasn’t carrying with her the baggage she brought home from New York.  But she was.  Which was taking an already difficult situation and making it virtually impossible.  “I know it doesn’t make sense, O.  But those doctors, they don’t care.  I’m a paycheck for them.  They don’t even look at me when I talk.  Just their fucking chart where they write down every word I’m saying, or their dinner menu for the week for all I know.  These aren’t the same doctors we go through eval with before Academy.  They… they aren’t you.”  A deep breath after her last statement, the root of all of it coming forth.  The fact was he was the only one she did feel comfortable with when it came to insight within her.  She’d become a pro throughout her life of hiding from the emotional baggage she carried with her.  Only Orion would hold that with the most delicacy, never seeming to judge her or look at her any differently.  Cael knew.  Layla knew.  They did well, but they didn’t share the aftermath of it the way Orion did.  In that, a trust was developed that would have her closed off to anyone beyond him attempting to take a crack at her brain.  “I wish you could just come with me.”.  

Orion "Because making sure you come out the other side is what gets them paid. It's their job." He reminded her, they both knew this well. They themselves as cops were proof. Just because they got paid for it didn't mean they didn't accomplish their job. "I'm not a shrink, Jade. But how about this...we compromise.. " he began, an attempt to get her ass into that seat tomorrow. "I will take you to the appointments...and sit in the waiting room. I'll be there before you go in and there before you go out. Afterwards, we can grab you some lunch, you can come back here and I'll go back to work." He offered, not sure whether it would appeal to her one way or another.

Jade His reminder was well received by a nod of her head.  As he offered her a compromise, he had her attention, though she was fully prepared to turn it down if it had anything to do with her going in the next day before another panel of doctors.  When his offer was presented, her lips parted slightly as she found his sincerity there within his hues.  Slowly tilting her head to one side as she offered another silent nod of her head.  He wasn’t a shrink and she had a pretty good idea that he didn’t want to know what she had seen and done, but the fact that he would free up his morning to literally just sit outside the room for her was beyond the call of duty.  “Alright.  You have yourself a deal.”  Though already she wasn’t looking forward to staring at the top of another person’s head as they kept their eyes glued on the chart resting at their lap, maybe it wouldn’t be quite as bad if she knew she could get up and walk out at any point in time and find him there on the other side of the door.  Perhaps selfish of her to allow him to do it, but she wasn’t sure she could go through it another day, much less four more minimum.  “So what if they say I’m done?”  She asked, a major indicator there to her own desire to potentially leave the bureau so that such a discovery wouldn’t be made.  “What if they say I’m more fucked than I was before?”  She continued that thought as she bore her deepest fears there before him, even if she had faked her way skillfully through the first round of evals that would touch on her childhood, therefore they didn’t know how fucked she was to begin with, but Orion did first hand.

Orion Truth be told, he did know but he wasn’t going to push her for it. He’d take it as she decided to tell him and hoped she would tell him it all someday. Hearing her agree, he nodded. A relief washing over as he just wanted her to do what she needed to do to come out the other side okay. Hearing her question, he shrugged his shoulders. “You’re considering not doing it anyway and if they decide that something has been done that you need to deal with then it’s better to figure it out now, hun. If that happens then we’ll know what we have to do…” he remarked as he watched her, tilting his head. “All else fails, I could use a secretary at the funeral home. You won’t even have to touch /that/ many dead people…”

Jade His gentle reminder that she was considering not doing it anymore was more than true.  After what she had seen and done under the then invisible badge, to save her cover and protect the operation, she wasn’t sure she could walk that walk ever again.  The mention that they would know what they had to do had a slight lifting to the corners of her lips as she liked hearing him confirm for her that he was going to go through this with her, as a we.  It wasn’t until he mentioned the funeral home and that she wouldn’t have to touch that many dead bodies that she felt the acid burning up the back of her throat again.  Drawing her eyes closed, breathing through that one instead of racing off to the bathroom again, having thrown up entirely too many times that day as it was, a huge nod to the rapid weight loss she had incurred in her time away.  Nothing but this man felt certain.  The psych eval that morning.  Her apartment felt foreign.  The way her brother had looked at her, demanding that Orion get her under control.  The blonde.  She reminded herself in that moment of the safety that was there within him.  The one person who actually had a vested interest in helping her through this.  “Maybe not so much on that last part,” she suggested, drawing her lips together in a firm line with a shake of her head, giving the first indication to him of one of the things she had both seen and done.

Orion “Okay, okay. None of that.” he stated simply, having seen and dealt with so many, he was well past desensitized and always had been. He never really had the ability to build up a stigma considering the family business had plunged him deep within that world since an early age. Rubbing her back. “Let’s just take it one day at a time. Relax from today, focus on tomorrow when tomorrow comes.” he suggested, thinking that sounded good and dandy to him.

Jade Death was a part of their lives, there was no escaping it for either of them.  Seeing a dead body was never entirely comfortable for her, yet it was entirely different for her to watch, participate, do.  Her mind already there, it was the movement of his hand at her back with his suggestion that would drag her back from within her mind to him once more.  Lifting one hand, she swept her shorter hair from her face, nodding her head.  It was a tall order to consider relaxing only to gear up for it to start all over again the next day, but she knew he was right.  If she didn’t find a way to turn it off for just a little while, it was going to drive her mad.  Or was it already?  “Alright,” she agreed with a slight nod of her head.  “I’d probably relax a lot easier with a few case files though…” she admitted as that had been her former relaxation.  A lift of her brows as she met his eyes.  “You... you wouldn’t happen to /have/ any… would you?  Could put our heads together… feel useful for something… sounds pretty relaxing, right?”

Orion “Absolutely not…that’s not my idea of relaxation. Work stays at work.” he stated simply, shaking his head at that concept as they very much disagreed on that theory of relaxation. “I’ll do you one better though…why don’t we throw on some true crime TV and see who can guess what quicker, hm?” he suggested, knowing there were a few shows like that floating around that could recreate the feeling well enough for her.

Jade The one thing they’d probably always disagree on.  Case files at home were a part of her job as there just weren’t enough hours in a day at the bureau to get through them.  Besides she seemed to do her best thinking in the middle of her bed in her apartment with thirty some folders spread out over the bed and a glass of wine in her hand.  Those were some good days in her opinion, even if that room felt like someone else’s room entirely now.  The suggestion there before her had her cocking her head off to one side as she looked down at him.  “Really?  Cop shows?  We talking real cop shows here or are we talking some show that thinks they are showing actual police work, but it’s really just a forum for romantic drama with ridiculous fanbases who are more interested in the couples than the crime being solved…?”

Orion “Really? You going to criticize cop dramas for romance?” he asked, giving her the slow one and over as she was very clearly sitting on top of a cop and was one herself. Shaking his head, the drama too much for him for a moment before he reached out for the remote. “and no, I’m suggesting neither…you ever hear about a show called ‘Snapped?’” he asked curiously. “It’s true crime about women who ‘snapped’ and killed someone. Typically their significant other but sometimes a mistress, stuff like that…and it’s build up lets you suspect what happened to who from who.”

Jade Watching as he insinuated they could be features on a cop drama, she shook her head.  She might be a cop sitting on top of another, but there was certainly nothing there in her opinion that would hold anyone’s interest for more than twenty one seconds.  At his next question, she shook her head no.  She wasn’t much for watching television as there just was never time.  The only time she got any true face time with a television was when she was at Orion’s and that normally either involved background noise in the room or the video games in the living room.  Neither of which involved casually watching television.  “So just how much of this stuff you watch while I was gone?  Gotta worry about you snapping on me?”  She asked, already noting the irony in that question considering.

Orion “I had alot of time on my hands…” he reminded her, rolling his eyes on the suggestion of his snapping. Giving up a slow laugh before a shake of his head. “I’m good, trust me.” he remarked, only able to think that a blond defense attorney might not be so lucky but she was safe atleast by his hands.

Jade “Alright..” she offered, slipping over to his side where she had originally started out, her head taking a place there against his chest as her eyes directed to the television.  “So they are going to tell us who’s dead and who did it.  We are trying to figure out the motive first?”  She asked, clarifying just what the terms of this game were before it started.

Orion Watching her slip over onto his side as that suggestion had left them as quickly as it had arrived. He shook his head upon her question. “No, they are going to say who is dead, how they were found and details about the death and then they’ll like introduce the family and it’ll be up to you to guess who did it and for what reason…” he stated as he glanced over, assuring she understood.

Jade Sounded enough like a typical case file to suit the need for the moment, prompting her to nod in agreement.  Lifting her eyes to meet his, a slow smile threatened her features, a far cry from the woman who a short time before was on the verge of tears.  “Alright, and /when/ I figure it out first, which I will, then what do I get?”  She asked, eyes imploring his to make it something good.

Orion “Whatever you want…” he reasoned, knowing that was a better response than what he would think to offer from her as he made it a blank check from him to her for strictly anything she was after. Only able to imagine as his hands slipped behind his head to his neck after turning the TV onto the right channel.

Jade “Hmm,” she hummed in response to that open ended offer there.  Just enough to bring that smile forth to its entirety as she lifted her head, letting him get comfortable before she’d return to rest her head against his chest once more.  “And what do you want if you figure it out… Wait a minute…” she tilted her head upwards, eyes searching out his own.  “You’ve already seen it, haven’t you?  All of them?”  She asked, wondering if he was playing a game here he knew he would win.

Orion “I have not. Vile allegations…” over reacting to the statement though he really had not seen them all. He narrowed his eyes at her as he glanced over towards her, rolling onto his side. Pretending as if he was mad at her now. Cocking his head over his shoulder only to stick his tongue out at her and watching as the new episode came on. Reaching for the blanket.

Jade A playfulness returning to them as he turned to his side, she already knew he was teasing her, which was then confirmed by the sticking out of his tongue, to which she already had her hand coming forth to snatch it, nearly getting it that time as he brought the blanket upwards.  “Alright.  I suppose this is a level playing field…” she teased, her hand finding a place there against his chest beside her face.  Letting a soft yawn escape her lips as she directed her eyes to the television.

Orion “Nooo.” refusing to let her at his tongue, feeling her against his chest as he spotted her yawn. Thinking that this was nothing less than a good thing as she might be ready to drift off as he played his cards right. Pressing his lips to her temple as he gently rubbed her back. Pulling the blanket over them both.

Jade Setting in under the blanket, feeling his hand at her back, and his kiss to her temple, only this man could manage to bring things full circle back to a place they had started, avoiding a potential break down.  Her gratitude was vast, though she wouldn’t speak of it.  Light movements of her fingertips there against his chest as she watched the television screen as the case was laid out before them.  Something to focus on, as he knew she would need.  Though she wasn’t needed on this case, it was enough to get her mind back on things that made sense to her instead of the hell she had witnessed during her absence from him.  “In case you fall asleep… Goodnight, O.”  She teased, as though he would be the one asleep first even as her eyes grew heavier.

-November 15, 2015