After watching Singing in the Rain, (and deducing that A had a fondness for musicals), Jane had fallen not-quite asleep through the second movie of the night, The Wizard of Oz (the Ultimate Collector's Edition, of course). She was pulled back to conciousness by a sting of pain near her ankles, causing a bleary gaze at the screen. The strange collection of clearly-costumed actors and Judy Garland were struggling in a field of poppies.
Jane became acutely aware that A's arm was laying across the top of her ankles. A was asleep as well, no doubt tuckered out from a day especially full of mothering Jane and performing domestic tasks. It sent a feeling of .. discomfort? through Jane. She wrung her hands together, the faded-bluegreen flavored gloves rubbing against each other uncomfortably.
Her toes curled slowly, pressing against A, but A only murmured and Jane couldn't bring herself to wake A, even if the girl was unconsciously holding her feet captive. A few minutes ticked by as sloshy bags of shaved icy dripped over her aching muscles. One by one Jane removed the bags and prepared to extract herself from A- she could handle a wall of lasers, surely she could handle A's sleepy grasp.
A stirred just before Jane began to move and Jane froze. A sighed, yawned, and adjusted herself. Jane could feel her toes pressing into A's cleavage. It was not altogether an unpleasant experience, if she were honest with herself, but nevertheless her cheeks began to burn.
Then A began to mumble.
"Hi, diddle diddle, my baby's okay..." She muttered, soft as pillows. Jane recognized the lyrics from Singing in the Rain. Despite being asleep and mumbling A's voice had a pleasing, even sweet ring to it. "Ask me a riddle and what did she snaaauuugh..." Mostly.
Jane wasn't sure how to react. She knew of somniloquy but it seemed far from the top of the list of traits for a con woman to safely have.
"A?" She whispered. "A, are you awake?" Her question was rewarded with a mumble that she couldn't make out. "You are talking to yourself."
"...m'not..." A breathed, fingers curling against Jane's ankle. It made Jane pause.
"Yes, you are."
"..nope.." A yawned. She began humming almost inaudibly.
Jane considered the situation. Was A messing with her? Was she really talking in her sleep? There was just no way someone who lived like A had this kind of vulnerability, no way she'd survive.
"..why are you doing this?" Jane pushed, a slight edge to her voice.
"..not doing anything.."
"Yes, you are." Jane repeated, biting her lower lip. "Do you do this with everyone?" She said, a quiet accusation.
"..nope.. laid awake the whole night through.." A sang.
That was improbable. More lyrics? Maybe A's brain was just recycling the day's memories and A repeating them. It seemed too deliberate to Jane. Whatever level of conciousness A was on, Jane was starting to consider that A was indeed both asleep and responsive. It made her guilty and uncomfortable.
Jane sighed and turned her attention back to the screen. Flying monkeys made as much sense as her situation did at that moment. She wrung her hands together. Her makeshift gloves crinkled. They were a bit tight but they'd loosen up. They weren't the right color, though. A had selected turqoise. Jane had wanted black. She'd be happy to have her own gloves back, but..
"Why'd you pick out such a bright color?" Jane muttered at A, not really expecting an answer.
"..diamonds..."
"What?"
"Jane likes diamonds.." A nodded in her sleep and her head leaned into the side of the chair. A tiny bit of drool was collecting on her bottom lip.
She remembered.
The gloves (and A's occasional sounds) did not bother Jane for the rest of the night. Though her body ached at her decision, she also did not extract herself from A's grasp. It seemed right to let A sleep undisturbed, even at the cost of her own. A would scold her in the morning, no doubt. She might even heighten her level of mothering. The corner of Jane's lip curled up.
When the movie ended, Jane turned the lights in the room off with a slight twitch of her hand and settled in. A stirred and yawned.
"..Jane..?" A mumbled.
"Sleep, A." Jane said, closing her eyes and letting thoughts of how, why and trust and sing-song lullabies slip out of mind. She'd be glad to be back in a bed the next evening.
"..mmkay..g'dnight, Jane.."
"Good night, A."