A/N- I'm a sinner. This is a tad citrus-scented but you won't find anything that fully crosses into NC-17 territory.
Anyway, this was meant for Day 3 of JacKim Week, but due to life being... well, life, it's a bit delayed in its posting. But here it is, nevertheless!
The warmth of the shower was relaxing, steaming away the emotional stress of the mission to find Crona. Jackie ran her hands through her hair, wetting down the dark strands and trying to keep her mind off the events of the day.
Kim sighed. "Can't believe I'm being sent right off to the witch realm. We only just got back from Italy!"
"Let's take our time until Kid gets back," Jackie suggested. "Today's been stressful enough as it is."
"Mm." Kim nodded, and Jackie turned to face the shower stream, letting the hot water pour over her body.
After Spartoi parted ways in Italy, it really started to hit home how dire the situation really was. Half her friends were on the moon or on their way there, and it wouldn't be long until her meister would be headed, unarmed, into a veritable lion's den herself. It was the proverbial eleventh hour, and none of them knew if they'd live to see tomorrow… or if there would even be a tomorrow. If Jackie had tried to claim she wasn't afraid, she would have had more than just her hair on fire.
She glanced at Kim out of the corner of her eye. Public baths and communal showers had forced her to become comfortable with the sight of her meister's naked body, but that didn't mean she was immune to Kim's charms. She always tried not to be weird about it, because there was nothing inherently sexual about showering under these circumstances, and staring was rude. Still, it was hard not to sneak a look sometimes. Sharing a dorm and a shower and basically every waking moment with the girl of your dreams could do that to you.
But at the moment, she couldn't really appreciate the view. The circumstances were too grim.
Well, now or never, right?
"Kim, I've been thinking a lot lately," she ventured, "about us."
Her meister looked over at her in surprise, massaging shampoo into her scalp. "Us? What do you mean?"
"We've been partners for a long time, right? We're pretty close."
Kim nodded. "About as close as it gets."
Jackie took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. "We are. But there's something you haven't been honest with me about."
"Huh?"
"Are you in love with Ox Ford?"
The witch blinked. "What? No!"
"Oh."
"I mean, he's cute, and a good kisser," she said, "and I appreciate what he did for us— for me— back at Baba Yaga Castle, but just because he does nice stuff for me... I mean, I can be grateful without liking him back."
"Oh."
Kim paused in scrubbing her hair. "Why do you ask?"
This was it. Kim wasn't in love with someone else, they were bare to each other in the most absurdly literal way, and they were staring down the end of the world. If she didn't do it now, she might never get another chance. A possible rejection was way worse than never taking the risk and never knowing one way or another.
Courage, Jackie, courage.
"I just wanted to tell you that I lo—"
The door slammed open, cutting her off mid-sentence.
"We don't have time to fool around!" Death the Kid exclaimed, voice echoing loudly against the tile. He stormed into the shower, barefoot, with his sleeves rolled up past his elbows and a loofah in his hand. "Which parts haven't you washed yet?" he demanded. "I'll help!"
"Pervert!" Kim shrieked. She slapped him so hard his head jerked around.
"What are you doing in the girls' showers?" Jackie cried trying futilely to cover as much of her body with her hands as she could.
Mercy descended in the guise of Liz Thompson and dragged Kid away, leaving them alone to rinse off and get dressed, but although they had privacy again, the mood had been broken. The moment was gone.
"What were you saying earlier?" Kim asked.
Jackie sighed. This was clearly not the time. "Never mind. I'll tell you later. Just focus on convincing your Grand Witch to save us."
Two years later…
"Oh Jackieeee~"
Kim's sing-song call was more effective than a police siren for getting Jacqueline's attention. She sat bolt upright on her bed and looked around just in time to see her meister poke her head around the door frame.
"What's up?"
The grin that spread across Kim's pretty mouth was positively sinful. "Oh, nothing," she sighed. "I was just planning on taking a bath." She swiveled her body, swinging fully into view and revealing that she wore a towel and nothing else. "Care to join me?"
Jackie never stood a chance.
"S-s-s-sure thing!" she sputtered.
Being Kim Diehl's girlfriend had been a rollercoaster ride, she reflected as she launched herself off the bed. For awhile after Jackie had finally made her move, Kim had been so shy and easily flustered, much like she had been during the early days of their partnership. It had been a major stroke to her ego, after spending so long thinking she would never have the chance to be with the girl she loved, to know that she was responsible for those blushes and bashful smiles. The reassurance that Kim was just as affected by her as she was by Kim was so necessary and so soothing after years of suspense.
But then Kim had found her feet in their relationship, and Jackie's life had become the most blissful kind of hell ever since. Her meister was one hell of a seductress when she put her mind to be… not that Jackie had ever needed much convincing where Kim was concerned.
Jackie left most of her clothes folded neatly in her bedroom, but was still struggling to get her socks off as she stumble-sprinted down the hall in the direction of Kim's mindful humming.
Their bathroom was easily the nicest room in the apartment. It had been what sold them on the place when they were looking to move out of the girls dorm the year before. The marble floor and deep linen closet were worthy recommendations in and of themselves, but the star of the room was the enormous jacuzzi tub… the tub Kim was leaning over at just this moment, checking the temperature of the water.
It was clear that she had pulled out all the stops. She had dimmed the lights, and candles were scattered here and there on practically every flat surface in the room. The bath was half-full, frothy with Jackie's favorite rose-scented bubble bath, and soft steam coiled from the water as it left the tap.
But they might as well have been in a barn for all Jackie cared. The only thing that mattered to her was the sight of her meister straightening up, bare and unashamed in front of her, skin flushed slightly from heat and arousal. Her hair, now grown out to shoulder-length, was curling up in the humid air, and fell across her forehead in a particularly alluring way as she looked at Jackie through hooded aqua eyes.
They were so in-tune with each other that she didn't even have to speak. Jackie crossed the room, barefoot on the cool tile and drawn oh so willingly in by the magnetism that seemed to exist between them. Before she could embrace her, though, Kim gave her a teasing smile before stepping back. She climbed gracefully into the tub, up to her knees in warm water. She held out her hands, and Jackie accepted her touch eagerly, allowing herself to be pulled into the bath as well, and this time, Kim did not resist or pull away when Jackie wrapped her arms around her waist in a sensual embrace.
Her meister slid her hands, warm and wet from testing the bathwater, across Jackie's cheeks, cradling her face in a gesture that seemed almost too tender for someone like her; steadied by Jackie's hands, she stood up on her tiptoes to press a soft kiss to her lips. Jackie responded eagerly, fingers digging into Kim's ample hips in delight as she licked lightly at her lips, begging to deepen the kiss.
Kim's hands, as they often did, began to wander almost immediately, stroking over her partner's silky fawn skin, leaving lines of damp and constellations of goosebumps behind. Jackie shivered, and couldn't restrain a soft moan as Kim's eager fingers found her breast, teasing her sensitive flesh. Not to be outdone, she drew her partner closer, one hand resting at the small of her back and the other slipping between them, petting across soft hair and reaching for-
"I'm terribly sorry to bother you this late at night," a smooth tenor interrupted, causing Jackie to shriek in alarm. She would have fallen backwards if it weren't for Kim's steadying hands (and possibly just a tiny bit of magic).
Kim clutched her closer, pressing their bodies together in an attempt to hide the majority of their mutual nakedness from the placid eyes in the mirror over the tub.
Death the Kid had, once again, crashed the party, and he looked entirely too unperturbed for someone who had just invaded an especially private interlude.
"Unfortunately, something has come up that I wanted to-"
"Kid, what the hell?" Kim demanded, cutting him off mid-sentence. "You can't just- just-"
"I know it's rather late," he said serenely, "but I took the risk that you would still be awake, since this really can't wait-"
"Actually, it can," Jackie said, feeling slightly violated and extremely pissed off. She glanced at her partner. "Kim?"
The young witch nodded. "I'm on it. Kid?"
"Yes?"
"Whatever it is this time, tell Maba to piss the hell off, I'm trying to get laid," she said sweetly. Then, with a flick of her finger, the mirror vanished.
Kim and Jackie finally turned back to look at each other.
"Where'd you send it?" Jackie asked.
"Somewhere in Saskatchewan," she said with a shrug.
Jackie didn't know whether this was a situation that called for laughing or crying. "He's gonna be so pissed at you, you know."
Kim grinned. "I'll just call Patti later and ask her to cut holes in all of his underwear. Trust me, by tomorrow he won't even remember he called."
Jackie couldn't quite suppress a small smile in response, then jumped as those wandering hands found her ass.
"Now," Kim said with a wicked grin, "where were we…?"
Ahhh, I'm so cruel to anyone who wants to get laid in my fics...
Your feedback and commentary is always appreciated.