Skye was sitting on the couch in what seemed to be a living room. You could never tell in these "secret headquarters," but so long as there was a television, that'd be where Skye was staying.
With a yawn she sprawled out on the couch, flipping through channels. She'd just gotten back from her lie-detector test, and Simmons was taking hers right about now. She hadn't seen the rest of the team, but she wondered what the results would be. She had no worries though. The team was the one thing she trusted, and hopefully that'd never have to change.
Her thoughts were put to rest when Jemma Simmons entered the room, her presence bright and cheerful as she displayed her newly-earned lanyard, nose scrunching up with a smile.
Skye grinned and gave her a thumbs up, sliding over slightly to give Jemma room to sit.
Jemma obliged and plopped down beside her, just close enough so that her shoulder brushed against Skye's arm.
They sat quietly for a few moments, absentmindedly watching what was on the screen and smiling contentedly, happy to simply be relaxing. After everything that'd happened to S.H.I.E.L.D., anyone would enjoy some peace and quiet.
"So," Skye broke the silence. "The lie detector thing. Pretty cool, huh?" She hadn't meant to sound as flustered as she did. Why did her sarcasm and quick thinking always dissipate at the worst moments? Never at the life-or-death missions... Always around the team. Not. cool.
Fortunately for her, Jemma seemed to take no notice of how awkward she felt, and her eyes lit up, a bubbly smile of excitement overtaking her features.
"Oh yes! Such technology is quite ingenious really! It'd take so much knowledge on brain waves, the specific details of the pulse, differentiations in intellectual capacity, and the different effects lying has in the human body! Such perception in a machine such as that is truly remarkable and ahead of its time! Of course, it did require a bit of calibration, with all those juvenile questions and such, but ultimately, it was quite an impressive device! Certainly an interesting way of determining whether or not to allow one onto a team, nearly foolproof!" She said, finishing with an excited squeak. "I'd just love to get my hands on it to examine!"
Skye wasn't sure how, but somehow Jemma had managed to say all of that without even taking a breath.
It was adorable.
"Yeah, but the questions!" Skye interrupted before the biochemist could continue off on one of her tangents that she wouldn't be able to keep up with. "What were some of your answers? Did you get the question about the rock and the egg?"
"Oh, the differences between a rock and an egg?" Jemma confirmed. "Ridiculous question, really, utterly ridiculous," she continued. "The answers are innumerable, had I listed them all, I'd still be in there and talking all day. The structural components of the egg include the shell; membranes; the thick, outer, and inner albumen; the chalazae; and the yolk, while a rock is all various minerals and, well, rock. In a fertilized egg, the yolk supplies the nutrients and the albumen supplies the water necessary for the development of the embryo! It's a source of life and energy! Rocks merely make up the Earth's crust, and are the base for many natural occurrences and the start of all environments. An egg changes and develops into a chick though it is just a single cell. Remarkable, really. That's another thing too though, rocks are all multicellular, while an egg, no matter what kind, is always unicellular. A rock can be metamorphic, igneous, or sedimentary, and they all shift into each other at one point or another through natural processes. They're always recycled, unlike and egg and its energy which grows and eventually dies to be decomposed-"
"Well, I just said one's breakfast, the other isn't." Skye cut in as soon as Jemma took a breath, rolling her eyes.
Jemma glanced at her with scorn and and looked as if she were about to launch herself into another lecture.
"What about the one with a box washing up on the deserted island," Skye scoffed, breaking in quickly. "I said my laptop, for obvious reasons… Though I realized that was stupid because there's no wifi, but whatever. You?"
Jemma's eyes flicked to her lap before flicking up to grin cheekily." I suppose I didn't give a very realistic answer on this one..." As she trailed off, her grin faltered, "I wanted to know the size of the box but Agent Eric wouldn't elaborate and I didn't want to ask and annoy him because I already did for another question so really the first thing that popped into my head kind of just came out and I must've sounded really stupid-"
Jemma and stupid don't go well together in the same sentence.
"Jemma," she chided. "Whatever you said could not possibly be stupid.You're the most intelligent, brightest, most perfect person I know."
She was surprised at how earnest and heartfelt her own words were... She hadn't even made up a word like perfect-est as she normally would have.
She mentally kicked herself. Repeatedly.
Jemma met her eyes quizzically, her brow furrowing lightly as she examined her. Skye flushed and broke the gaze, and eventually the feeling of uncertainty passed as if nothing had happened. There was something unreadable in Jemma's expression for a moment. Hope? Just simple curiosity?
"Well I don't know about that," Jemma said, tinged a dark tone of pink as she cleared her throat apprehensively. "I sounded like a nerd..."
Skye couldn't prevent the snort from escaping her mouth, but she covered it up with her hand, her shoulders shaking lightly.
"Jemma, you are a nerd!"
Jemma was embarrassed but defensive. "But not just a nerd, like a big geek,"
Skye supposed she wasn't helping when her laughter merely intensified, but she couldn't help it! Jemma's thickened accent and higher pitch when she was flustered wasn't helping her to become more serious again either.
When her laughter subsided to occasional random chuckling as Jemma glared at her, she finally managed to ask, "Well, what did you say?"
"The T.A.R.D.I.S."
"Hmmph?" Skye questioned, a lightly puzzled expression smearing her face.
Jemma's eyes widened almost comically. "Only part of the best television show in the universe!"
Skye didn't react. "What show?"
"Doctor Who!" Jemma exclaimed in exasperation. She certainly seemed to be taking Skye's ignorance of the show as a personal offense...
"T.A.R.D.I.S. 'T'-'A'-'R'-'D'-'I'-'S'. Time-and-Relative-Dimension-in-Space. The Doctor's time machine! Bigger on the inside! He calls her Sexy..."
"Um, okay then," Skye said, eyebrows raising and mock exasperation lacing her voice.
"Did I mention it travels through time and space? It appears to me I'm certainly the only one getting off that island. I can't believe you've never heard of it! It's on BBC!"
"Hey," Skye reacted instinctively. "With my laptop, I could probably hack into something to get me off the stupid island!" Came the retort."...If I, well, had wifi, y'know, but whatever!"
"But can your laptop transport you to other planets and different time periods?" Jemma inquired, shaking her head with eyebrows raised. "No," she finished definitively before Skye could.
Skye sighed, a short laugh escaping her when she looked at Jemma's folded arms.
"Well I'm sorry I don't watch this, 'Doctor Who,' or whatever!"
Jemma suddenly looked down nervously, chewing on the inside of her lip and smiling meekly, contemplating what next to say and if she should say it. "Well, you could... I don't mind re-watching all the episodes... we could start with Nine, y'know, the newer versions so there's not as many... I'm sure we could get Netflix or something, or download it..."
Jemma looked up with a sheepish grin, head tilting to the side in question and her warm brown eyes sparkling hopefully in the light.
"Who said anything about me agreeing to this?" Skye joked sarcastically, amusement in her eyes.
Jemma looked like a kicked puppy at that.
"Hey, hey, I never said I didn't agree either!" She smiled, her brown eyes softening and melting altogether.
"Great!" Jemma looked up completely, brightening. "You'll like the Ninth Doctor, he's a lot like you, oh, and Rose, I can't wait until you meet Rose!" Jemma squeaked in excitement.
Skye rolled her eyes.
"I would have the DVD's with me, but they got destroyed on The Bus."
"Wait, you took DVD's of a T.V. show along with you to an uber secret government society?"
"Well there has to be something to do in one's free time!"
"Jemma, when do you have free time?"
"That's not the point, Skye! As I said, after missions it's important to wind down. I certainly am allowed to take whatever I want if I'm going to live there!"
Skye snorted. "Wind down? By watching nerdy shows that you've probably already seen?"
"Yes," Jemma proclaimed with indignation.
"Well okay," Skye huffed in endearment, her eyes crinkling at the corners in amusement. "And you did have a fair point," she included to make the frazzled woman before her feel better.
Jemma smiled graciously at that.
"...Well it's up to you, like I said, wanna watch?" Skye asked shyly after a pause.
"Yes!"
A grin spread across each of the brunettes' faces.
Within fifteen minutes they'd comfortably gotten the episodes, which involved Skye illegally downloading them despite Jemma's protests, and connecting Skye's laptop with the episodes on it to the T.V.
"Okay, so which episode?"
"It's called 'Rose.' The first one."
"'Kay," Skye said, clicking on it.
They reclined and let it play, Jemma squeezing her arm excitedly whenever something she liked happened. When The Doctor grabbed Rose's hand and whispered "run," Jemna had practically jumped out of her seat, a grin plastered on her face as she clung to Skye happily.
Skye found that she definitely did not mind Jemma hanging all over her. The show was really good too. At first she'd found it really cheesy, laughing at all the unrealistic parts and sometimes at the British accents for no apparent reason, but she found she was really enjoying herself. The plot was good too. By the end of the first episode she'd decided she loved The Doctor, he was hilarious; loved Rose, she was awesome; and loved to make fun of Mikey.
Whenever she did though, Jemma would reprimand her, saying he was like a puppy. Or a tin dog. Something like that. Skye wasn't quite sure what to make of that comment, but nonetheless, Jemma's excitement was infectious.
They'd gotten through three episodes before Jemma began inching closer to Skye, moving from her position with her feet up on the coffee table to pulling her knees to her chest and leaning on her, snuggling her head comfortably on Skye's shoulder. It was quite distracting really, but comfortable. Jemma was warm and soft, a blanket. She was soothing.
She could smell the faint sweet scent of lavender perfume that Jemma wore mixed with the welcoming smell of tea and honey on her breath. She was almost tempted to close her eyes and sleep with the wonderful aroma wafting around her.
If the show hadn't been so amazing though. C'mon. Weird baby-faced farting aliens. Skye would never be able to keep herself from laughing.
The two girls were huddled close and giggling uncontrollably.
"I promise the episodes aren't all this cheesy!" Jemma smiled, red-faced.
Skye only burst out with even louder laughter. "I don't care if they're all like this! This is great!"
Jemma smiled in relief, biting her lip. She really wanted Skye to be enjoying herself as much as she was. Jemma openly grinned and burrowed into the taller woman's side, hair falling over her face.
They each could get used to this.
Jemma had warned her not to get too comfortable and that she'd probably cry.
Skye had been unfazed. She hadn't believed her. Now she did. They were on the last episode of series one and tears were streaming down her face, silent sobs being choked from her throat while her hand lay over her open mouth. Jemma's eyes welling up as well, and her cheeks were dampened. Throughout the show Skye noticed how attached Jemma was to each character, waving her arms happily whenever Rose and The Doctor had a moment, getting deathly silent during serious parts, snorting before funny parts even had the chance to happen, spewing out brief spoilers with a grin plastered on her face as she did so, and lastly, letting a tear or two slip down her cheeks whenever something sad happened. Jemma had briefly explained regeneration to her but Skye hadn't quite gotten it, not knowing anything about the show. Now she definitely did.
"Oh. My. God... This show is intense."
"I know," came the whispered reply.
"This show tends to be more suspenseful than life-or-death missions..."
"Yep... Wait until Doomsday. And Journey's End. And Angels Take Manhattan."
Jemma had been laying on Skye's lap the whole time, but she'd risen to watch the last episode, leaning more in toward the T.V.
Now Skye had ended up clutching Jemma's arm as if for dear life, clenching and unclenching her fists and making incoherent squealing noises, staring at the now-black screen.
The "feels," as Jemma called them, had definitely set in.
She frantically met Jemma's glistening eyes with her own wet ones, "Next season?"
Jemma's eyes crinkled in amusement, but nodded happily nonetheless.
Skye grinned. But she didn't move to get her laptop again. They were in close proximity, legs practically intertwined. Gazing into Jemma's eyes, she trailed her thumb softly across Jemma's cheek, carefully wiping away the gathering of moisture there. She smiled to herself, transfixed for a moment by the endless layers of brown in Jemma's eyes and the tentative delicate smile playing across her soft pink lips. Her eyes... They were like the finest piece of dark amber, able to capture her attention and very soul within them with a simple gaze.
It only had lasted a second, but when Skye realized how creepy and awkward she must have appeared, she broke the gaze, turning away quickly and practically jumping off the couch to get her laptop, jostling Jemma roughly in the process.
A furious blush burning like white fire across her face, she muttered an apology, trying to appear lighthearted as if nothing had happened. Again.
Jemma seemed perplexed... Yet again. She didn't question it though. She just had a darkened look in her eyes and stared at her retreating form.
Skye scrambled to get the new episodes loaded onto her laptop.
It said it would take fifteen minutes though...
Damnit.
She was making a fool out of herself already. She didn't even know why.
Jesus, Skye, where'd your cool go? You look like a blithering idiot!
Oh god. She was even beginning to sound like her.
No, not Jemma, it was probably just from watching all the British television.
That's what she told herself anyway.
Soon, all was forgotten anyway, despite her initial concerns. They'd chatted intensely about the season, discussing Nine's regeneration, his relationship with Rose, how Skye would learn to love Ten even more, and about each of their favorite moments in turn.
It was certainly apparent to Skye that Jemma hadn't gotten to talk and "fangirl" for a long time, as Jemma so nicely put it as an excuse for her excitement.
She seemed to be truly enjoying Skye's company. She was glad for that. She liked it when Jemma was happy.
When they played the next season, fifteen minutes into the episode, Jemma did something that took Skye by surprise. Not much could shock the girl, always evaluating and examining... But this did.
Jemma had carefully draped her arm around her shoulders, all the while inching her hand atop Skye's own, interlacing her fingers in Skye's and squeezing lightly.
Skye carefully shifted her gaze to the side, assessing her, wide eyed.
She looked away immediately, pretending not to notice anything, but not before she could see the nervous apprehension on her teammate's face, obviously looking forward deliberately with a tinge of pink staining her cheeks.
Skye smirked. She put more of her weight on Jemma, pressing their bodies together, nuzzling into her.
It was quite comfortable. Neither wanted to move.
They stayed that way for the rest of the episode, soaking in each others body heat and letting it comfort each of them in a shroud of warmth and security.
It was extremely late already. May and Coulson had only passed the room a few times, and Fitz was occupied bustling around for the team. She'd only seen Ward earlier that day. They all trusted each other enough to not have to check whether or not they each passed the test. Of course they all did. They were a team. It was a normal day. Almost a vacation. It was perfect.