Title: Flexion
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Strawberries and Anatomy… Kind of.
A/N: I have found a use for my boring Israel Archaeology class, writing fiction. Hmmm good ole college. For some reason- this idea popped into my head as soon as my anatomy teacher told the class about this definition… I'm weird. – ALSO this is thoroughly UNBETA'D being as I don't have one. sad. All mistakes are MINE
Reviews are lovely… do with that information what you will.
I realized at the end of this fic that I did something unusual and totally not on purpose, if you figure it out lemme know, cuz I barely noticed it and I think its kinda neat!
'Flexion.'
That was the word that kept going through his head at the moment. He was right back in his sophomore Anatomy class learning about the motions of the body. The technical definition he was given was: Flexion- When two elements of the body get closer to each other, decreasing the angle. Usually referring to limbs.
Very clinical.
There was nothing technical or clinical about the body parts causing his flashbacks right now. Of course, nothing was ever the same when Sara was involved.
She was doing it on purpose. Just to piss him off. She had to be.
The entire night shift had gone out to breakfast because there was a lull in Vegas crime and no one had a case all shift. He found himself sitting across from Sara and surprised himself by ordering his pancakes with fruit instead of meat. He figured being that Sara was sitting right in from of him, she wouldn't want to look at dead animal while she ate. She might lose her appetite for her Belgian Waffle with whipped cream, walnuts, and strawberries… strawberries… damn strawberries.
She had eaten all of the waffle already.
"Because if you don't eat it first the strawberries and whipped cream make it soggy."
That was her explanation. So now what was left on her plate was strawberries with remnants of whipped cream covering them. He didn't think there was a way to eat strawberries that WASN'T sensual. It was impossible. Add Sara's long arm extending her hand out to pluck one up by the greens and flexing it back to bring to her mouth…
'Oh God'
She was definitely doing this on purpose. She was doing fine with the first two, they were small, she could just put the whole thing in her mouth. But this one was bigger and she had to bite it in half first. When she pulled her hand away there was a drop of strawberry juice and whipped cream clinging to her lower lip. It was completely erotic.
When she flicked her tongue out to catch it he gripped his fork so hard he thought it would snap in half. The woman had no idea what she was doing to him. She wasn't even paying attention to him. She was engaged in a debate with the rest of the table about television shows. Fox's 'Bones' vs. NBC's 'Law and Order: Criminal Intent.' Sara was firmly in the 'Bones camp, along with Warrick. Everyone else opposed. Greg was oddly silent.
Tearing his gaze from Sara's accursed mouth, he looked at Greg… who was staring right back at him. His arm was behind Sara on the back of the vinyl booth. Looking for all the world like he was sizing him up. Sizing up the competition. He knew that Sara and Greg had gotten much closer recently, Sara being his mentor and Greg the ever eager student. He knew the position well.
Up until this moment he had never seen Greg as a rival. A rival for Sara's affections. He worried that eventually his inaction where Sara was concerned would become too much and she would really move on. He just hadn't realized that there was already someone waiting in the wings.
Frankly, the thought of Sara and Greg together like that made him a little nauseous. It made him nauseous because he knew it was entirely possible. Maybe it was already going on. No- he would have known, wouldn't he?
Greg's stare didn't waver. He knew that Greg was aware of his study of Sara. Possibly even knew how it was affecting him. He didn't drop his eyes from Greg's, he just raised his chin and tilted his head in a way that he hoped would express his readiness for whatever Greg was going to bring. Eventually Greg narrowed his eyes then lowered his gaze and turned his head back to the others.
He had to admit, recently he had been discovering a new side to Greg that he didn't think was there. He was used to Greg being twitchy and fidgety around him in that- anything-to-please-the-boss kind of way. But in the last 2 years he noticed Greg's willingness to stand up to him when he felt strongly about something. It was… a little unnerving to be honest. Before, he didn't even consider Sara with Greg because he seemed so young, a boy. But now with Greg blossoming under Sara's tutelage, people were taking notice, Sara included.
Sara. His eyes roamed back to her. Blasted strawberry in her hand again. She was talking about something he couldn't comprehend. If someone asked him what his name was at the moment he doubted he could answer.
She was trying to eat the fruit, she really was, bringing the red morsel to her mouth, only to pull it back and laugh or make a comment. He couldn't bring himself to look away. The strawberry was slowing tingeing her lips the most lovely shade of red-pink. It should be a lipstick color, 'Strawberries and Sara', he thought so anyway. He knew his mouth was slightly open but he couldn't focus enough to close it.
When had it gotten to this point? He knew that eating could be erotic but this, this was a whole other level. Suddenly, Sara's gazed flicked quickly to him, as if she knew he was watching. He wouldn't doubt it.
Busted
Her eyes questioned him silently. He squinted slightly but otherwise remained as he was. Sara turned her body to face him.
"Are you alright, you've hardly eaten anything?" she spoke with genuine concern
The others caught this and turned their attention towards him. Greg smirked just enough to let him know he knew exactly what was going on. It made him rather uncomfortable. He waved off their concerned glances and gave the tried and true response for liars everywhere.
"I'm fine, really."
This seemed to satisfy the group and they resumed their former merriment. Not Sara though. She still looked at him with the same concerned look, clearly not buying what he was selling. He feigned a smile and shoved a large forkful of cold pancakes into his mouth, trying not to grimace at the texture of the soggy crumbly food.
A few minutes later Brass stated his need to leave, paperwork and all that. The CSI's shift was officially over so everyone was free to go. Slowly everyone drifted out until it was just him, Sara, and Greg. Greg stood up and asked Sara if she needed a ride home, he had driven her the two blocks to the diner. She looked at Grissom, who was studying his plate like it was a new species of cockroach.
"Um, you know what Greggo? I think I'm going to walk back to the lab, I have something I need to check on. And it's beautiful out." She said, glancing at him with a smile.
He looked up at her words. No one had an open case, what was she talking about? Greg seemed to know this but he nodded slightly and accepted it. Greg looked at him with a small smile and a little shake of his head. Seemingly admitting defeat he turned and left.
He didn't look back at Sara after Greg had left. He could feel her watching him though. He looked up and saw her slightly narrowed eyes. Suddenly he felt very exposed.
"I thought all your cases were closed right now." He asked lightly.
"They are." She answered simply
"So, what are you checking on?" he asked curiously.
"You." The way she said this looking him straight in the eye made his heart beat faster.
"Sara-"
"Don't." she cut him off "don't feed me the 'I'm fine line'. Something has been up with you the whole time we were here. Are you feeling alright?"
He hesitated, then "Not really."
She hadn't really been expecting him to answer her honestly. Her eyes widened in worry and surprise.
"What's wrong? Are you sick?" she asked quickly.
"NO! No I'm not sick, nothing's wrong. I'll be fine. Forget it." He tried.
She heaved a large sigh and looked down briefly, seemly collecting herself. When she looked back up she had a look on her face he hadn't seen before, not on her. Her lips we pursed and frowning a little. The look in her eyes could only be described as troubled.
"Do you, do you regret asking me to stay in Vegas?" she asked slowly.
She couldn't have surprised him more if she'd told him she was carrying Hodges' baby. Did she think that? This was not good.
"Sara! No. Never. Why would you ask that?" he wasn't sure he wanted the answer.
"It's just that, when I first got here we were, closer. We were friends. What would you call us now?" she asked candidly.
He opened his mouth to answer but closed it again when he realized that he didn't know. He just looked at Sara shaking his head from side to side seeing her point.
"I know that our… relationship isn't ideal, but as far as I know, you've never lied to me. Why start now?" she questioned.
His expression was baffled. "Lie? When?"
"Just now. You said nothing was wrong. But you barely said a word during breakfast and you look feverish."
He didn't know what to do at this point. He was looking anywhere and everywhere rather than her. How could he possibly tell her what was going on? So as usual, he stayed silent and thought about all the things he wished he could say. His mind was racing.
After a moment or two Sara bit her lip and nodded in a slow sort of resigned way. She stood up and grabbed her jacket.
"Forget I asked, obviously I'm off base. I'm going to see if I can catch up with Greg."
As she started to walk away he suddenly jumped up and grabbed her fingers.
"Sara, Dammit, Sit."
She turned and looked at him with a confused and half annoyed look on her face.
"I'm sorry, you must have me mistaken for a pet… or Hodges."
"Look, I apologize, just please, sit back down, and let me explain." He squeezed her fingers and gently tugged her back to the table to sit across from him. They sat and Sara slowly withdrew her fingers from his and placed them in her lap.
"What was that about?" she asked quietly "I said it was fine, you don't need to explain."
"Sara… I want to be able to… I can give 3 hour long lectures to hundreds of people without thinking… I can talk to Warrick about his gambling problem, Catherine about her daughter, Brass about his ex…but, when I'm with you, I can't string 3 words together. And you're out the door before I can tell you to wait."
Sara was surprised, for a couple reasons. She always thought that he never responded to her because he was being standoffish or because he just didn't want to answer. She was also surprised because he was being so open with her. This was unprecedented, barring the hockey rink- beauty comment.
"I'm sorry" she said quietly. It caught him off guard, he looked up quickly.
"What are you sorry for?" he asked in confusion
"You're right, I leave before I let you gather your thoughts. I just thought that you weren't ever going to say anything, and… I think I was afraid that if I waited around you may have said something I didn't want to hear."
They looked at each other for a long while, not saying anything, but not uncomfortable.
"So," she started "You're okay? Or you're not? Because you weren't eating and I know this isn't the best food but I know you skipped dinner because of that meeting with Ecklie earlier."
He paused for a moment and took a breath.
"I didn't eat because I was, distracted."
"By what? There aren't any open cases. Was it something with Ecklie? Did something happen… I'm sorry, I'm being nosey."
He smiled a little and sat up, emboldened for some reason.
"Ecklie, was the last thing on my mind, I was preoccupied, Sara, with you."
Her mouth may have been hanging open, she didn't know. All her nerve endings were focused and buzzing in the direction of the man across from her. For his part, he had a small smirk on his face indicating he was pleased with himself, probably because he had managed to get an entire sentence out where she was concerned and not make her mad.
After she regained control of her jaw, she managed to speak, a little.
"Um, why?"
"You want me to be honest?"
"Well I certainly don't want you to lie."
"You're very beautiful."
BAM. Just like that it was out there. He couldn't take it back and she couldn't believe it. What's more is that he kept going, it's like the floodgates opened.
"You're always beautiful, remarkably so, but today, it was… the way you were eating the strawberries. You weren't even trying, you're not even aware, it… it drives me to distraction."
Now it was Sara who couldn't speak.
"…wow, so much for not being able to string 3 words together." She stuttered.
"I'm sorry, if that was inappropriate-"
"No! God, no, stop talking, I never thought I'd say that but, stop talking."
They smiled at each other and stayed quiet. It wasn't the heavy moment that he thought Sara would make it. She wasn't demanding a declaration of love or throwing questions about their 'relationship' at him. She accepted what he gave at face value. And it was nice. They could work from there. That actually wasn't so hard.
He stood up and held out his hand to help her up.
"Would you like a ride home?" he asked hopefully
"Yeah, I would like that, do you think we could stop at the market on the way though?"
"Sure" he said "What for though?"
She smiled mischievously and gripped his fingers a little tighter before sauntering away towards the door, throwing casually over her shoulder-
"I need to buy some strawberries."
The looked that crossed his face, while foreign to him, would have been classified as a full blown grin in all fifty states.
"Me, too"
THE END
I realized at the end of this fic that I did something unusual and totally not on purpose, if you figure it out lemme know, cuz I barely noticed it and i think its kinda neat!
I know this was seriously random but this would not go away- thanks for hanging out!
