AN: Another Anon put in a request for a fic, with this prompt being "Is that my shirt?" It turned into "Is that my shift?" instead, and was quite fun to write! Takes place after "If The Shoe Fits," so you all have a reference. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Xena.
Xena, before she started traveling with Gabrielle, could have told you without a second thought exactly where every single one of her possessions were.
It was a hold over from when she was young, when she had just started helping out her mother and Toris with the inn. While the back area of the inn had never been perfectly clean (the result of it also being the home to three very young, very rambunctious children), within a moment's notice everything could be found, and one of the first things Cyrene had drilled into their heads was that everything had a place, and in its place it would be.
Most nights things had gone smoothly, but those few nights dozen of villagers had crowded their halls, knowing exactly where the reserve mead barrels and the quickest way to get them opened and served often meant the difference between a successful night and a full purse and having to scrub blood out of the hardwood floors before it stained.
It was a skill that had served her well as a warlord, allowed her to keep track of her men and their supplies with ease, and even when she had left that life behind, a certain amount of order had remained.
Until she met Gabrielle, that is.
By the gods, she loved that woman, but by the gods, she was worse then a natural disaster.
Gabrielle had a particular definition of the word 'organize.' In some ways, their definitions matched. Food always went with food, clothing went with clothing, and things that needed to be easily accessible at any given moment always went right on top. On that they could agree.
But for Gabrielle, things were never in the same place. One day their cooking supplies could be in the first left saddle bag, the next they would be in the back right, or sometimes even tucked under their bedrolls. Their clothes, instead of being neatly separated so they were easy to find, were all jumbled together, making getting dressed an adventure- was she about to pull out one of her own socks or another pair of Gabrielle's underwear? Who knew? Xena didn't, not until the garment was free of the bag it had unceremoniously been stuffed into.
And more often then not, when she went to reach for a knife or something else she needed right then and there, she found ink wells and feather quills instead, her and Gabrielle's meaning of "important" being very different.
She loved Gabrielle, very much, but they were going to need to have a talk, because this unorganized organization Gabrielle had going on was driving Xena insane.
For example, she couldn't find her extra shift.
For the last half hour, ever since she had come back from the river, clean and with a well washed but still soaked shift over her arm, she had been searching through their bags, trying to find where Gabrielle had put it- and nothing. Absolutely nothing. She must have gone through every single bag a dozen times over, and yet, somehow, her second shift had disappeared, leaving her angry and nude in the middle of the forest.
Toughened leather against bare skin was just asking for a rash, and toughened leather against wet cloth against skin? That was how Gabrielle had ended up with her foot fungus in the first place, and there was no way Xena was risking that on her stomach and breasts. If anyone appeared, she would fight them as naked as the day she was born, but she wouldn't be happy about it.
She wasn't happy at all, really, but she especially wouldn't be happy about that.
Not that she had to wait for much longer. Even after years of them being together, of Xena pointing out the changes Gabrielle had to make in her walking patterns to be invisible in the forest, Xena could still hear her coming. Not that she was loud, no- Gabrielle could glide through the forest better then some of the born Amazons, using the trees and the natural paths through the underbrush to sneak up on her opponents without them knowing she was close. But even still, Xena could hear the slight shifting of the dirt under her bare feet, the rustle of the leaves as she passed, and knew she would be there soon.
Standing in the middle of the mess she had made out of their bags, her hands on her hips, Xena waited, her foot tapping, for Gabrielle to come into the glen so she could show her where, exactly, her shift was.
Gabrielle didn't need to show her a single thing, because the moment she appeared, Xena knew, full well, exactly where her clothing had gone.
Not that she could truly call it hers anymore, not with the changes Gabrielle had made to it.
The shift was almost a dress on Gabrielle, the mid-thigh on Xena cloth almost to her knees. She had altered it some- where she had gotten the thread, Xena couldn't have even begun to guess, but the top was tight, form fitting instead of loose like it should have been, like it had been the last time they had had to dress Gabrielle up in her gear to pass her off as the Warrior Princess. The straps had been disconnected from the back, instead tying together behind Gabrielle's neck to keep everything up.
Even altered as it was, Xena would be lying if she said seeing Gabrielle prancing around in her clothes didn't do something to her. Though, whatever that something was, it quickly disappeared under the realization that Xena was now down one shift and had nothing to wear.
Oh, she was going to pay for that.
"Gabrielle, is that my shift?"
Gabrielle, without giving her a glance, just nodded as she started to hang her own wet clothes on a tree limb to dry. "Yep."
"Why are wearing my shift?"
"Because, Xena," Gabrielle said, her voice a bit testy, "you keep stealing my clothes. Whether it's to gag a warlord or save the world, my outfits suffer because of it. So, this time I stole one of yours."
The last of her clothing hung, Gabrielle turned on her toes to face Xena, her hands falling on her hips as she met her gaze and stared her down. Or, rather, tried to, because after a moment her eyes did drift down to take in the sight before her, a flush rushing over her cheeks. But she did eventually raise her gaze to meet Xena's once again, determined to not be the first one to back down.
"It looks good on you," Xena admitted, allowing her own eyes to wander, a smirk on her face as she watched Gabrielle's blush deepen, "but I'll be needing that back now. And back in its original condition." Taking a step forward, Xena held out her hand, waiting for the bard to comply and strip so Xena could get about returning her shift to a wearable state.
"No."
"No?" Her eyebrow raised at that, her look almost turning dangerous. It wasn't often that they played like this- for it was play, that much was clear, the challenge in Gabrielle's tone just shy of teasing. Xena would get her shift back, eventually, but she would have to work for it.
"That's right, Xena," Gabrielle said, straightening her posture so she seemed to stand a little bit taller. "No. If you want your shift back, you're gonna…you're gonna have to take it!"
Dangerous words, and Gabrielle knew it, from the way she stiffened the moment they left her mouth, her face momentarily twisting at her stupidity before settling once again into a determined stare. She wasn't going to lose.
"Fine by me, Gabrielle," Xena almost purred, her voice dropping an octave as she took a step forward, her lips twisting into as smirk as she watched Gabrielle watch her. Pausing, an idea popping into her mind, Xena's smirk turned into a true, deadly smile, sending visible chills down Gabrielle's spine when she saw it. Finishing closing the distance, Xena stopped with barely any space between them, just enough to keep from fully touching but close enough to feel the heat rolling off of Gabrielle's skin. Leaning down, stopping before her lip could brush against Gabrielle's upturned ones, Xena spoke.
"I'll even give you a head start."
"What?"
Confused as Xena pulled back, watching as she shifted her stance so, at any moment, she would be able to spring into motioned, Gabrielle's face twisted into almost horror as she realized what was happening. As Xena began to count.
"Ten…nine…eight…"
She was gone from the glen, her long stride and powerful legs, strengthened by the years of walking across the known world, quickly putting distance between them. But in her panic she had forgotten- forgotten her training, forgotten her goal, forgotten who she was up against, for without even moving a muscle Xena could track her. Could hear the branches breaking, could hear the plants flattening under her feet, could hear the peal of laughter that tore itself from her lips- everything Xena would need to follow her easily.
"Three…two…one. Ready or not, Gabrielle," Xena called, knowing Gabrielle would hear her, "here I come."
The hunt itself was almost disappointing- the trail was clear, just like Xena had known it would be, leading directly to the tree she knew Gabrielle was in; it was the only one with branches low enough for the bard to reach, and while she had been careful not to do any damage to the limbs, they had still been swaying when Xena reached the trunk.
Looking up, it only took a moment for her to find where Gabrielle was hiding, the brown of the shift and the strawberry of her hair standing out against the green.
"Are you going to come down," Xena asked, "or am I going to have to get you down."
Gabrielle said nothing, just shook her head and stuck out her tongue before shifting higher in the tree, to where another, thicker clump of leaves could better hide her. From someone else, she would have been invisible.
To Xena, it was still clear as day where she was.
On the surface the tree looked good- old, sturdy, with a thick trunk and more leaves then the two of them ever could have counted in what remained of summer, a hopeless task before the beginning of fall. It was almost perfect.
Almost, except for the small soft spot Xena found after a few moments of examination- the tree's, and Gabrielle's, downfall.
And fall down Gabrielle did as the branch broke under her as Xena's heel connected with the spot, the groaning almost wail, almost creak the tree released enough to put her on edge. An edge she didn't need, but still one that helped her hold out her arms in the exact right position for Gabrielle to fall into, safe from harm to all but her pride.
"Got yah."
"Yeah, yeah," Gabrielle said with a huff, her glare not nearly as effective as it could have been without the leaves stuck in her hair. "You won, Xena. Put me down and I'll give you back your shift."
"I don't think so."
Shifting her so Gabrielle was on her feet, Xena took a step backwards- pressing Gabrielle's back against the tree she had formerly been hiding in, now one of the barriers that kept her from escaping.
"If I remember correctly," Xena said, her voice soft and low as she bent down, her lips almost just touching Gabrielle's once again- when Gabrielle tried to close the gap between them, she added some more to it, almost laughing at the small, frustrated whine that bubbled up from Gabrielle's throat. "You said I had to take it."
One hand fell to the hem of the shift, her fingertips just brushing against Gabrielle's thigh as she slowly began to lift the shift upwards.
"So I will."
It took a long while, but Xena, eventually, got her shift back. Not that Gabrielle could complain, for by the time they returned to the campsite, her own clothes had long since fully dried, allowing her something to wear.
Though wearing them was on the last thing on her mind, for even though she had lost the shift, she would be damned if she let Xena put it on before sunrise.