Shikamaru was ticking off reasons on a pros and cons list in his head about Tenten's apartment. Right now as he packed a bag at his place, before heading out the door after a thorough shower and shave, he placed the distance of how far she lived away from his place in the column of cons. Shikamaru had never thought there was a longer journey than when he was trying to get from his apartment to hers, and he had just recently traveled back from Suna. The distance prevented him from traveling across town in the middle of the night to get back to his apartment and he always ended up staying at her place instead.
A quick reevaluation decidedly put the distance from their apartments in the plus column. If he did live closer he wouldn't have his lazy excuse to stay the night, and wouldn't get to wake up next to her in the morning, so really, it belonged on the pros list, possibly twice. He could put up with a little walk across town for that. As he was still getting used to the fact that he was indeed dating a girl who did not meet his standards of normal and plain, he didn't want to move in with her right away. The man needed to get adjusted to dating her, and wanted to keep some aspects of his bachelorhood by staying in his own apartment with out getting rushed into a big decision such as moving in together. Some how, over the last few months, that excuse only served to irritate him, especially now that he had the itch to move a dresser into her small apartment to keep his clothes there permanently so he wouldn't have to pack a bag before seeing her.
Permanent. He and Tenten. He rather liked the sound of that.
He adjusted his backpack and raised a hand to the orange streaks of the setting sun, glowing brilliantly on the horizon. Tenten had a beautiful view of the horizon from her bedroom window, Shikamaru had watched clouds big and fluffy pass by as he idly waited for Tenten to return from wherever it was that he was too lazy to follow. The pleasant oversight of the city from the top floor definitely fell in the plus column.
He snuck up the fire escape, only because he knew she wouldn't expect him to come that way, if only to sneak a peek of her while she bustled around her apartment, one of his most favorite pastimes second to what they did in the bedroom and cloud watching. She was drying dishes and putting them away, clearly not expecting him to come home early from his last mission by the simple clothes she wore. She must have been sharpening and polishing her weapons before dinner: her tank-top was streaked with polish and mottled with splotches of dirt and water. As he approached further, he noticed that she was only wearing a pair of panties instead of shorts that she normally wore around the house.
And Shikamaru thought he hated the heat.
He voyeuristically watched her swipe the clean dishes with a worn dishtowel as she dried them, efficiently putting them in the cupboard before stacking them on little piles on the counter. Plates in a small tower next to the bowls were placed on the bottom shelf, glasses on the next higher, and then mugs on the top. Her kitchen was small, lacking a considerable amount of cabinet space, the long vertical cabinetry only served to frustrate his girlfriend most of the time. She could stretch her lithe body just far enough to place them on the shelf with the tips of her fingers, but always had to hop on the counter butt-first to retrieve them. He watched her stretch her body to push with the pads of her fingers the mugs onto the top shelf, ending her chore of putting the dishes away. He swung around front to knock on her door, glad he wasn't discovered in surreptitious surveillance.
She called out to him that it was open, and he stepped inside and set his backpack down. She must have been putting on a pair of shorts when she hollered for him to enter: and it relieved him that she put on some clothes before coming out; he wanted to be the only male on the planet to have the pleasure of that view.
"Hey," he spoke, slowly straightening up from placing the pack on the floor, as he watched her tighten one of the loose hair ties from her buns. She looked up and smiled, dropping her hands and rushing over to give him the welcome home hug he had been addicted to since the beginning of their relationship.
He was able to make out a muffled, "missed you," into his chest, and she nuzzled him thoroughly, dipping her hands inside his jacket instead of around it. He always liked that she did that.
"You must be starving!" she suddenly spoke peering up into his amused eyes. "I just put dinner away," she broke the hug and headed into the kitchen, "what can I get you?"
The refrigerator door opened with a small pop and she began to stack little containers of leftovers on top of one another and place them on the counter.
"Actually I was hoping for some tea," he finally spoke, leaning lazily on the entrance of the kitchen with his tall frame, "if it's no trouble."
A half-smile, "I just made some ice tea yesterday, it's been so hot lately I thought I would try this instead." She had already pulled out the fat pitcher and was about to cross the room with it when Shikamaru shook his head with a smile.
"If it's alright with you," Shikamaru tried to keep the mischief out of his eyes, "just regular tea, I can try the ice tea later."
To her defense, she didn't look offended or slighted in any way, she simply shrugged and placed the pitcher back inside the fridge and put the kettle on the stove.
A quick hop on the counter butt-first and Shikamaru nearly ran across the kitchen to pin her body with his, and part of his brain ticked off another important pro to her apartment.
As inconvenient Tenten found it to retrieve mugs in this fashion, Shikamaru loved having her legs wrap around his torso as he kissed her senseless on the counter. Tea forgotten until the kettle whistled, Shikamaru turned if off the burner with out looking, one hand stretching over to twist the knob off.
Tenten broke the kiss, lips swollen and pink from his attack; he smirked at his handiwork and dove into to assault her some more, but her fingers on his lips caused him to cease and desist, if only for a moment.
Patience not being one of his virtues when it came to Tenten, he listened to her talk while he focused his energy and lips on her neck instead.
"I thought you wanted tea," she half-whispered.
"What I want," Shikamaru grunted in between nips at her throat, "is to get a better look at those lacey panties you are wearing."
"Were you watching me put the dishes away earlier?" she asked as she let his flack jacket fall to the floor.
Although Tenten would have no idea what he was talking about, he said it anyways.
"The window by the fire escape is also going on the pros list."