Title: Breathe
Author: Watoshimi Kairou
Fandom: Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries
Characters: John "Jack" Robinson / Phryne Fisher
Rating: Mature
Status: Complete
Summary: The morning after.

This fandom is taking over my life.

Breathe

She knew the moment he began waking up, the slight tensing of the muscles underneath her and the rippling effects as he relaxed. Even so, Phryne did not take her eyes off the unusual curl of his sleep-tousled hair and continued combing her fingers through it. She wrapped a strand around a single finger and stared at it, marveling at the way it almost seemed to absorb the morning sunlight.

"Phryne?" he asked hesitantly, pulling her from her trance. His voice was still thick with sleep and he blinked heavy, unfocused eyes at her. He was probably confused, she thought distantly.

Phryne had always considered herself a modern, liberal woman, uninterested in tying herself down to any one man and lived life as it came to her. Jack, while also liberal and modern, preferred to live a more controlled lifestyle. And after last night, who knows what she was thinking? Hell, even she didn't know what she was thinking. They had come together unexpectedly, a spur-of-the-moment decision that didn't fit into Jack's controlled lifestyle. No wonder he was worried.

Slowly, she dragged her gaze from his hair to his eyes, taking in their soft concern as he scanned her face. She wondered what her expression was telling him, wondered if it was showing something like uncertainty and warmth and fear and hope all at once. Her emotions seemed to be a mixture of everything positive and everything negative; she was unable to pin it down to anything specific.

So instead of answering his—and her—unasked questions, Phryne continued taking in the sight of his sleep-tousled hair and soft eyes. The image in front of her was miles away from the one she was so used to, all sharp features and carefully styled hair and perfection personified. This one, Phryne thought as she brought her hand down to his face and stroked the skin with slightly trembling fingers. This, while still perfect, was real.

Having never felt anything remotely similar to this before, Phryne took in an uneasy breath and swallowed down the odd urge to sob. As if sensing her sudden confusion and fast-rising panic, Jack reached out and pulled her into him, holding her in an embrace that was warm and comforting and everything that was Jack. Shuddering with emotion, Phryne squeezed her eyes shut and breathed in slowly, trying to calm herself. It was then that she realize this image—the one of Jack with sleep-tousled hair and soft eyes—was an image she wanted to wake up to every morning.

And it scared her. A bone-deep, soul-shaking kind of fear that made her want to rip herself away, run from the room, and never look back.

But this was Jack.

Jack.

Jack who only held her tighter as if he knew exactly what she was thinking—but then again, she shouldn't be surprised because he was Jack and Jack knew her. He knew her smiles and her tears, her joys and her fears. He knew how to motivate her, how to pull her back and slow her down because sometimes Phryne was too hotheaded. She lived life as it came to her but that wasn't always a good idea, especially when life had her cornered with a pistol aimed in her direction. The thought that Jack was everything she was not, that they were opposites that complimented one another, that he was everything and nothing that she wanted made a fresh wave of fear and panic rise within her.

"I know," Jack breathed soothingly into her ear. "I know."

He stroked the soft skin of her bare back with the pad of his thumb and pressed feather-light kisses to her hair. Phryne closed her eyes at the sensation, tense muscles slowly relaxing and finally—finally—allowed herself to get lost in everything that was Jack. When her shivers finally subsided, Phryne felt almost boneless in the aftermath of her panic but Jack continued to hold her, still stroking, still kissing. She sighed quietly and imagined herself taking this exact moment and wrapping it around them so they could live in it forever.

Edited but has not been beta-ed so I apologize for any mistakes.