Dancing in a daydream

Her eyes slowly closed as he leaned toward her once again. This time it was gentler and more precise than the first one, which had clearly been a product of her being very surprised and him not really thinking through what he was doing.
A soft sigh left her nose, almost overwhelmed by how warm his hand felt against her jaw. Her arms folded around his waist, and she stepped a little closer if that was even possible. But there was also something telling her that she shouldn’t push it. She didn’t want this to make things awkward, and staying friends after a kiss was much more manageable than after you had slept with one another. Sex always complicated things.
Once again, it was her that broke the kiss, breathing heavily; she gave him a small smile. “Maybe, we should take this slow?” she asked, wanting to know why he had kissed her and what he meant by it. She wouldn’t be some girl just being swept away by a silly kiss. And sometimes, the things you needed to wait for and explore slowly were the things you enjoyed the most.

He felt how she pulled them closer minimizing the space between them. It felt gentle, soft and curious. Eventually she broke the kiss, and without her even telling him, he knew it was for air. He had gotten a little lost himself. She asked to take it slow which made him open his mouth, wanting to reply immediately, before he shook his head and replied what he believed was the correct thing to say, “Yeah, of course,” he said and took a small step away, even though there was something about it that felt wrong. He started scratching the back of his neck, “You can… You can go to bed, I’ll just take care of the wine and- yes,” he said planning to move away and find his glass by the table. It was first quite late I thought that taking care of the wine could sound like he would be trying to empty it himself. That certainly wasn’t the plan – but depending on her answer, it might not be the worst idea.

“Hey”, she took his face in her hands as it seemed like the insecure person had returned. Had she said something wrong? Maybe she had given him a false impression about the whole thing? A gentle smile formed over her lips as she let her thumbs glide over his cheekbones before letting go again. “We can talk about this instead? If you want to, I just, I haven’t been in a relationship in a long time in any sort of level, you know, friends with benefits, actual boyfriend-girlfriend –“ she stopped talking as she realised how she sounded, like some crazy sick love fool, or maybe a teenage girl that thought that just because of a kiss then they were suddenly lovers. “I mean, what I was trying to say” she licked her lips and closed her eyes for a moment before looking up at him again. “I really like you, Jasper”, her left side of her lip pulled upward “, and I don’t want to rush into something where either of us gets hurt on the other side because we didn’t have the same expectations – okay, I’ll let you talk now,” she said with a sheepish grin folding her lips together to show him that she would keep quiet so he could tell his piece as well.

He stopped completely as she grabbed his face, he looked at her with focused eyes. She asked if they could talk about this and started to talk about the different kinds of relationships there was, which made butterflies stumble around in his stomach. He wanted to say something but felt completely stunned about the conversation, she corrected herself, almost as if what she had said hadn’t been meant to slip her lips, but what she had said sounded so true. I really like you, Jasper. Oh yes, he had noticed, but he was just as confused about his feelings as she was shy to admit them. A slight smile spread on his lips as she spoke about how she didn’t want any of them to get hurt. “I think you’re doing an amazing job speaking for the both of us,” he told her with a little greater smile that revealed his teeth. “I really like you too, but I believed you might have messed with how I like you,” he told her with slightly furrowed brows, “In a positive way, I’d say,” he believed that might be in its order to add. “I’ve always enjoyed having you as a partner in some way through work, but,” he licked his lips a little, “One thing is working together at work, another is with a relationship, and I don’t know if we know each other… Well, enough in that specter,” he said and tried to figure out if he had said something good or bad.

She couldn’t help but blink a little when he told her that she had messed with how he had liked her. Her stomach was pulled together in an uneasy motion, waiting for what he wanted to say; in a positive way. Her stomach relaxed and was filled with butterflies instead, but as he kept talking, the smile on her lips slowly disappeared, and so did the butterflies that turned into painful knots instead. Her eyes blinked a little as she tried to understand where he was going, not knowing each other well enough. Did you have to know each other well to be in a relationship? Wasn’t it more about attraction at first, and then you saw where it led? Or was she just old-fashioned and believed that one could still fall in love at first sight. No matter how painful it twisted and turned in her heart and stomach, the smile reappeared. “Yeah, you might be right,” she said as her fingers found the other and started twisting some of the dead skin on the nail's side. She didn’t really know what else to say or if there was anything more to say, so she waited to see if he wanted to add something else. Or if that was just that.

He could see how his words were doing more harm than good, but maybe he was just a little slower to realize it than what good was. That was one of the things he wanted to work with, knowing where he had her emotionally. She smiled again. So, she understood? You might be right. His hand caught hers before she even got to pick at her fingers. He got a little down in his knees to make sure to look her in the eyes. “So, you’re willing to work on that?” he wondered pulling a soft smile. “With some work, we might be able to figure out what’s going on and if it could be something that lasts?” he looked at her, worried if he had stepped on the wrong stones. Maybe he should work on how he formulated his replied, because he truly had this feeling that she got confused with him.

She blinked a little as he mentioned if she was willing to work on that, and her smile turned more genuine. “My god Jasper, you really need to work on how you talk with people”, she said, catching his nose gently with her fingers, almost like when you played that kids' game ‘I got your nose’, letting go, she then nodded “yeah, we can work on that, trying to get to know each other outside work” she agreed, even though she still felt a little overwhelmed with all the information that she needed to sort through in her mind with what had happened tonight. She still needed to figure out if she was willing to quit Interpol, and if not, if she were able to get a position in London, it would at least be easier to commute between here and there, even if it wasn’t ideal. It was a place to start, at least. “So, am I sleeping in your bed or the guest bed?” she asked with a smirk, not really being serious.

Jasper laughed a little confused at first as she said he had to work on how he spoke with people. Maybe he was just way more socially awkward with people he liked? Bummer. “’Ey!” he laughed as she caught his nose. He smiled a little wider as she agreed that she was alright with working on getting to know each other outside of work.
Bed.
He raised his brows a little from the blunt question, “You can sleep with me if you want?” he replied not having noticed that she hadn’t been serious. “There’s space enough in my bed for two,” he told her with a little more genuine smile.

Her eyes widened as he hadn’t noticed her sarcasm, but since he hadn’t been against it, she wouldn’t correct him or tell him that she had been joking. “All right, well then let me help with this” she walked toward the coffee table and took the glasses and walked into the kitchen again, taking the last of the cleaning after the dinner they had shared.
The faster they could get it done, the quicker they could get to bed, and if she was being honest, she was exhausted.
She turned to him when it was done, giving him a small smile. “Lead the way”, she muffed, her eyes tired as she reached out her hand for him to take it, so he could lead her to his bedroom because even though she had joked about snooping around, she had only done so in the bathroom.

With a light chuckle he followed her and helped with cleaning up the rest of everything. Being somewhat clean in his new home, it was fairly easy to get everything done and it didn’t take long before she asked him to lead the way. He looked towards her and noticed how she reached out to him. With a soft chuckle he took her hand and started walking backwards with her. “I thought you had been snooping around?” he wondered making a short huff as he walked into some of the kitchen counter. He moved out of the way from the kitchen counter and continued to direct her towards his room, though a little more cautious of not stepping into something. Finally, the made it to his bedroom, and he guided her all the way to the bed. “There you go, sleeping beauty,” he laughed before he let go of her hand. If she let him, he would move towards the other side and dress down, not thinking much about how he was ending up only in his boxers before he turned around to the bed. A short moment he thought he should rather put on a undershirt, but some of the collected calm Jasper caught onto him and he simply continued and walked towards the bed to get underneath the sheets.

Taneisha was just about to warn him about the counter he walked into; a chuckle left her, and then she shrugged. “I wouldn’t really do that, only the bathroom that I took a shower in,” she said with a smirk on her lips and then followed along, letting her eyes scan the area they walked through until they reached his bedroom, and he let her inside. She didn’t really understand why she suddenly felt butterflies forming in her stomach, but as he guided her to the bed, she lifted a brow as he called her sleeping beauty. She had to bite down her tongue to not come up with a cheesy remark that if she were the Sleeping Beauty, he would have to kiss her in the morning to get her out of bed. But she just sat down and took off her trousers and then pulled the t-shirt over her head, not thinking about the fact that it wasn’t everyone that slept with almost nothing on as she did. When she had gotten her clothes off, she glided under the covers and turned her back to him, feeling her eyes getting slightly heavier, but as the bed gave after as Jasper placed himself beside her, it was like all fatigue left her. Not that she moved or indicated that thoughts were racing and her heart was beating slightly faster.

He noticed how she had her back to him and didn’t even move as he got under the covers. He on the other hand was faced towards her. He had to stop himself, about to wrap an arm around her. It was odd having someone in your bed and not cuddling, or maybe he was just a very cuddly person. He usually cuddled with his cat that was no more. Maybe he should arrange that he got a new cat? No, not yet. He had to settle more.
He studied her hair and listed to the sounds she made in the very quiet bedroom. Her heartrate didn’t seem to lover as much, and even though his eyes got somewhat heavier and slower in their blinking, he didn’t feel like he could fall completely asleep. “You’re not tired after all?” he wondered in a whisper, even though it was only the two of them in the house.

He was so close. So close that she could feel how the duvet shuffled around when he moved even the smallest amount. The soft fabric was enough to make goosebumps spread over her arms, down her back and then she heard how he split his lips and, in a low whisper, asked if she wasn’t tired after all. Turning around, she gave him a small smile. “I’m tired, and then yet, not really”, she whispered, letting her eyes glide over his beautiful features. She would never get bored at studying him and all the lines that covered his face. “you look like you are just hanging on, though,” she continued in a low voice they had talked with before. She lifted her hand out of the safety of the covers and reached out to let them gently glide over his cheek. Not thinking about that, her action would show just how little she was wearing in bed.

She turned around. He hadn’t expected that. He furrowed his brows and gave her a short chuckle, “Not really?” he wondered. He hummed a little as she mentioned how he as just hanging on, “Yeah, it’s tough handling unexpected guests,” he joked with a smug smile, even though he still looked tired. She moved her hand up to caress his cheek, and even if he didn’t look for her outfit, he could easily tell that she wasn’t wearing a top. He closed his eyes shortly, enjoying how her hand felt against his skin. “I know I look like I could fall asleep any moment, but don’t be fooled,” he said with a sigh before he opened his eyes and looked at her. There was something in him that was tempted to take a step further, but as she had said herself, she would rather take things slow, and that might be the best idea – but snuggling wasn’t too quick, was it?

“Oh bother, hate it when those guests just show up unannounced”, she chuckled, knowing very well what he was hinting at, but she wasn’t going to be faced.
“Mmhm”, she mumbled when he told her that she shouldn’t be fooled by the fact that he looked like he would fall asleep at any moment. “Turn around “, she whispered and couldn’t resist the smirk forming on her lips “come on now” she twirled her finger around to motion what she wanted him to do, and as he did, she gently placed herself closer, letting her nose find his neck and an arm around his waist. “Goodnight, Jasper”, she whispered and placed a soft kiss against his neck before closing her eyes and settling in with the new position she found herself in.

He laughed a little with her as she joked around with how it was bothering to get unexpected guests. He truly didn’t mind the extra company, but he had certainly gotten confused and used a lot of mentality through the evening. Once again, he didn’t mind the extra company and how things had turned out.
Suddenly she asked him to turn around, which made him open his eyes and look at her. What did she say? Then she made a motion with her fingers, once again telling him to turn around. A little confused, he slowly turned around, which made the bed make a few sounds. She snuggled closer to him, wrapped an arm around him and placed her nose right by his neck, feeling her breathing. For a short moment, he could feel how his heart was speeding up, but as she told him goodnight, it slowed down and slowly got more and more comfortable with being the little spoon. “Goodnight, Tanny,” he mumbled back, getting a few goosebumps as she kissed his neck.

“Goodnight, Jasper”, she whispered softly, hugging him a little closer, and after a while, even her leg snaked its way around him, so her foot was on the other side. Maybe she was pushing the limit, but she quickly fell asleep, so she didn’t even think about it. It had been a very long time since she had been able to sleep this well and not wake throughout the night either by nightmares or because she was sure someone was in her room. It wasn’t always peaceful to sleep when you were her, given that she could turn into someone’s worst fear.

Norah hadn’t really thought there might be a reason she shouldn’t visit her friend early in the morning. Truth be told, she just wanted to see Jasper, maybe talk with him a little, share a good cup of coffee, and do whatever you actually did with a friend, which wasn’t something Norah had a whole lot of. Okay, if she was being honest, she didn’t have friends. This was maybe why she tried to put some effort into it, and when she had to continue with this revelation where she was being truthful, to some extent, she also reminded of her older sister. She knocked on the door, but she used a spell and unlocked the door when no one opened it, walking inside. “Good morning, Jasper!” she called with a cheery voice. “I brought breakfast and coffee.”

Taneisha grunted and pushed herself under the covers as a woman's voice called in the house. “I’m not taking the fall again for some disgruntled wife”, she murmured, clearly not fully awake yet.

She whispered goodnight to him another time, which this time made his lips curl a little upward, though it was quickly followed by more goosebumps. She wrapped herself more into the cuddling and he held his breath for a moment, but quickly forgot to do so and fell asleep, very comfortable being the little spoon.

He heard the knock, but it didn’t fully wake him up, it just made him aware, but a second later he heard the voice of Norah. He closed his eyes tightly together. What was she doing here? He laughed a little as she hid under the covers. “Don’t be so harsh,” he mumbled and slowly turned around to look at her, pulling the duvet a little up before he gave her temple a kiss, since it was the easiest to reach. “Take your time,” he said with a soft voice before he slowly crawled out of the bed, almost falling in the process. He grabbed himself some relaxing clothing – clothing that neither of the women had seen him in. It was almost a disgrace to his normal dress code. He walked downstairs and found Norah. He scratched his head, “Hey. Did we agree on meeting today?” he mumbled feeling how he had been too quick about getting out of bed. “I got a…” Coworker, friend… girlfriend? “I have guests,” he rephrased and pointed up towards the bedroom he had just come down from.

“I’ll be as harsh as I like when it’s this early in the morning”, and even though her words sounded annoyed, the smile on her lips clearly stated that she didn’t mean anything by it. And as Jasper gently placed a kiss against her temple, she hummed with appreciation.

Norah turned and widened her eyes as she saw what he was wearing; herself in a very well sown summer dress that showed her thin waist and a pair of sandals with a wedge.
“No”, she shook her head when he asked if they had agreed to meet, “just thought I popped by and see how you were doing”, she said with a small smile, then he told her he had a guest. “Oh!” she then quieted her voice “, sorry, didn’t know, since you just moved here and such, I didn’t think you would have any to keep you company.”
“he wouldn’t if I hadn’t surprised him,” Taneisha said as she rubbed some crust out of her eye “hi Norah” fancy seeing you here; she looked at Jasper with a knowing smile before she walked over, only in a very large t-shirt. She put on the coffee maker since she didn’t think Norah had bought anything for her, “Tan”, Norah said, blinking a little; what was she doing here? “Sorry, Good Morning”, she mumbled, “what time is it anyway? I feel like it’s way too early”, the somewhat morning grumpy fairy mumbled as she stared at the dark drops from the coffee drip down into her cup. She needed something to wake her up now; “wait, are you to a couple?” now, Norah didn’t mean to make a face, which was why she managed to pull her lips together and force herself to stay neutral as she turned and looked at Jasper.

Jasper laughed a little as she explained that she was just checking up on him, “Thanks,” he said. He was about to explain that she shouldn’t be sorry when Taneisha explained herself, which made him look over his shoulder. She was still only dressed in the t-shirt. Super. He folded his lips as his eyes followed her until they ended up on Norah. When Taneisha asked for the time, he took a step closer to Norah to look around a corner for a clock. “It’s 9,” he laughed a little, it wasn’t really that late.
Are you two a couple?
Jasper opened his mouth a little looking at Norah before he shortly looked towards Taneisha, “We’re uh,” he licked his lips, not really knowing what to say since they had been ‘just coworkers’ less than 12 hours ago. “Yeah,” he replied with slightly furrowed brows before he looked back at Norah, nodding. That was a very, very dangerous question to ask when both people were in the room, in his eyes.

Now, asking someone if they were a couple when they were standing next to one another could always be a loaded question, unless that they were. And right now, Taneisha had no idea what they were; besides that, they had agreed to explore and figure things out. That they didn’t know each other well enough actually to be a couple, or that was what she had gotten from the small talk they had managed to have yesterday evening before they had turned in for the night.
Then he told Norah that they were, which made her look up with quite the surprised look; it was clear that it hadn’t been what she had expected him to say, which was something that took Norah by surprise as well. “Well, to be honest, we are figuring things out and want to get to know each other, and seriously Norah, you can’t just ask people questions like that right off the bat,” she scolded the younger witch. Norah just smirked “well, you would make a cute couple”, she said, and the smile got even better. “Would it be okay if I stay for breakfast, then I’ll leave you guys for the rest of the day?” Taneisha shrugged; for her, it didn’t matter if she stayed or not, so that had to be up to Jasper if he wanted her to stay or not.

Jasper nodded and gestured towards Taneisha as she spoke about how they were actually figuring things out. That was the correct thing to say because that was what they were. He sent a small smile to her as she continued to tell Norah to keep such a question to herself. “Thanks,” he said to Norah before he looked down at the counter licking his lips. Could one say anything else when they got a compliment?
Could Norah stay for breakfast? He looked toward Taneisha, after all, she was his original guest. He looked back at Norah with a nod, “Certainly,” he said with a small smile, “What did you bring?” he wondered with slightly raised brows, clapping his hands together before rubbing them a little. At least now they didn’t have to think that much about making breakfast.

“Well,” Norah started as she took one of the bags, Tanny took one of the bread basked she found as she had been looking around for a cup, and placed it for Norah to fill it up with, then she proceeded to take a sip before she started helping to unpack the grocery bag, her eyes narrowing a little, how much had the woman brought? For an army? There was juice, eggs, bacon, sandwich spread, cold cuts, everything you wanted for a big breakfast. “did you buy everything?” she asked as she took out a cantaloupe and some grapes. Well, she didn’t mind, and this was going to be a feast. “what she just said, I might have bought everything I saw and wanted”, she laughed, where both the girls ended up making the table for them. Taneisha handed Jasper a cup of coffee as she passed him, leaning over and giving him a soft kiss against his cheek.

Jasper moved closer to the bag and as things were being unpacked, his brows slowly raised, looking up at Norah as Taneisha asked if she had bought everything. “Well, then it might be good that we’re one extra,” he laughed a little. Shortly after he was handed a cup of coffee and received a kiss on the cheek. He had to get used to that, not that he minded it at all. He took a sip of his coffee before he started to make sure that nothing was missing on the table. After all, with everything that Norah had bought, they needed a little bit of everything, and since he had just moved here and none of them really knew his drawers, he made sure to find everything for the ladies so they wouldn’t have to look everywhere. Soon enough they could all sit in peace by the table with coffee and food for a whole village. He gestured to Taneisha to start to get things onto her plate. “So, Norah, how are you doing?” he wondered. He knew that she had come to check how he was doing, but now that she was here, he wouldn’t mind checking up on her too, after all, she was only staying for breakfast so he had to take advantage of her visit while he had the possibility.

Norah looked up from her cup of coffee that was nestled between her hands; it was clear that the question took her by surprise, which it shouldn’t have because he had made it quite obvious that he wanted to be her friend. Still, for a woman that didn’t have friends, it wasn’t something she was used to hearing when it didn’t come from her parents.
Her tongue glided over her lips, getting the foam from the milk; then, she looked toward Taneisha, that occupied herself with getting things on her plate to eat.
“I did as you suggested and talked with Bentley,” she said with a smile, taking a small sip of the coffee before putting it back down on the table and taking a piece of bread, “So, we are trying to see how things will work out between us” it felt weird talking about it out loud, and she couldn’t help the soft glow forming in her cheeks. Taneshia chuckled a little, eyeing Norah with a knowing smile; “oh, shut up, Taneshia” a laugh left the chaos fairy, and she lifted her hands. “What, I didn’t even say anything”, she kept laughing, which only made Norah point at her with her knife; “Sure, just keep those unsaid words to yourself” Taneshia shook her head a little and started eating.