Study Time, Snuggle Time

WRITTEN BY: Jamie Jeans

Started & Finished: Sometime in early January, 2004

These characters belong to Marathon and not me; I am merely borrowing them for a short period.

Enjoy!


"Hmm.. chemists... landed.. mars... twenty... something months... sleep, ago... hmmm... comfy warm bed..."

These were the last few intelligeble words of Clover before the science textbook fell from limp fingers, landing on the bed a few moments before her head did. Deep snoring drifted up into the air, and thus Sam and Alex were left, the only two conscious people surrounded by books, and even then, they looked as though they were about to join Clover.

It was the time for midterms, and there wasn't a single person not preoccupied with it.

Fortunately, the three spies had had all of their free time to devote to studying, as not once in the past three days had they been unexpectedly dragged into work at WOOHP. It was a wonderful change marred only by the need for said studying.

"Wow, we've really been pushing her hard, haven't we?" Alex said, brushing the sleepiness out of her eyes, or trying to. For some reason,
the corners of her eyes were blurred and would not unblur despite her best efforts.

Sam saw this and gently pulled the brunette's hands away. "We have to, just as we have to push ourselves. Otherwise, we might not do so well on midterms."

Alex sighed, and tried to turn her attention back to the science book in her hands. It was chemistry, and the two had been teaming up on Clover, helping her to brush up on the basics. But now, the words were blurring, and it felt as though fatigue was finally winning out. She looked over to Sam, and saw the same weariness on her face. Amazing how even the redhead could become tired after...

Six hours of studying?

Alex double checked the clock on the stand beside Sam's bed. The readout did indeed read eight PM, and they had started at two, with only a short break for supper prepared by Sam's mother.

"Alright, time for a break."

That had come from Sam, and Alex almost laughed with relief as she bookmarked and closed the text book.

"One hour though, and then we'll get back to it," said Sam.

Alex nodded, and scooted over closer to the redhead. Without even asking, Alex found herself being cuddled by the redhead, warm, gentle arms wrapping about her and pulling her into an intimate hug. Alex wriggled a little, stretching her legs out over the mass of books and notes littered on Sam's bed. She turned, resting with the side of her face pressed into Sam's chest and linked her own arms loosely about the redhead's body.

"Hmmm," was the simple sound of content they made as they snuggled in.

Sam's head dipped down, her chest resting on Alex's head as her long red hair spilled down the sides of her friend's head, obsucring her face and hair. Alex didn't mind it one bit, and found the chance to take in the nice, soapy smell of Sam's red hair to be quite pleasent.

That had to be a new conditioner and shampoo combo that Sam was using.

And it was warm, for she mustn't forget the warmth. Against the air conditioning of the room, Sam's body warmth stood out, a comforting presence that lulled Alex almost into sleep then and there.

As for Sam, Alex seem to make a wonderful fit against her body, her arms resting just above the brunette's shoulders as she rested on her legs. They didn't often get the time to just snuggle like this, to take in the feel, the smell, the presence of one another in such calm, non-life threatening situations.

That and Alex was just too damned cute not to snuggle.

It didn't take Alex long to notice a soft beating sound and reailze that it was the heartbeat of her friend. Even the cloth of her friend's shirt wasn't thick enough to dull the sound, not with her ear pressed so firmly against her. It was a calm, steady beat, one that seemed so much at odds with what regularly happened in their lives.

Alex closed her eyes, finding it difficult to keep them open, and just listened. The thump-thump of Sam's heart made the perfect contrast to the gentle snoring from Clover, and Alex sighed once more.

This felt all so perfect, she was certain that the three of them would be WOOHPed at any moment.

Yup, at any moment now, giant hands would spring out of Sam's dresser drawer, or the vaccum cleaner in the closet down the hall would spring to life and suck them off the bed, or the bed would swing out from underneath them like a giant trap door...

Yes, any moment now, the peace and serenity would be shattered and they would once more find themselves on a mission of peril and excitement...

Any time now...

Nothing.

Perfect.

And with that thought in mind, and reflected in the redhead's mind, the pair fell asleep.


"Hmmm ehhh... no mister science I don't wanna learn the laws of thermodynamics!"

With a start, Clover came away, blinking and whirling her hands about, fending off the evils of her study induced nightmare.

"Back, back...! Oh... oh..." Blinking, Clover found her opponet to be an imaginary one, and was all set to go back to sleep when she spied Sam and Alex snuggled together.

All thoughts of sleep left her mind shortly after, and she crawled over, snapping a finger in front of Sam's face.

"Yo, Sammie?" This was said at the lowest volume, because right now, she really didn't want to wake them up in that much a hurry. For one,Sam asleep meant a break from studying, and secondly...

Clover grinned.

Photo Op!

From the recesses of her school bag, Clover took out her digital camera ( hooray for the digital age!), and scooted over on the bed to get the best possible angle. She had to brush some of Sam's hair out of the way to capture the priceless look of her friend's sleeping expressions, risking the chance of awakening the redhead, but hey, all in the interest of art! Or something...


Authour's Notes: I wrote this up because of the thought of how cute Alex and Samantha look snuggled together, and just how much Sam would push her friends in studying.