"We need to go to work" Cameron said in a flat voice. She was getting bored.
"Shhh" Chase replied, his face resting on her stomach.
Cameron was lying on her back wearing nothing but a white tank top she had put on immediately after they had finished, as if she didn't want to be exposed any longer than she had to be. Chase was still naked with his cheek lying against her rib cage, his lips hovering above her belly button.
Whenever they got into this position Chase thought of his mother. He remembered when he was a small child his mother and him would take afternoon naps together, and they would rest like this.
Even though Cameron remained silent Chase could feel her tension on her stomach. He could recall that his mother was always relaxed during their naps; her stomach was soft and provided infinite comfort to his little boy body. Cameron' stomach, like the rest of her body, was carefully constructed with flat planes broken only slightly and unusually with feminine roundness. He remembered that before the jaundice his mother was plump women with unbroken curves that seemed endless as he watched her do chores. Chase had searched and the only round parts of Cameron were here breasts and the delicate inside of her thighs.
Cameron began to grow impatient and started to fidget with her hands. His mother would play with his hair until they would fall asleep. He could still remember the smell of honey and milk on her hands, the lavender of her clothes.
"Are you falling asleep?"
Chase only responded by taking in deep breath in hopes of smelling honey and lavender but all he received was sweat and ice. Cameron would never be able to understand what this meant to him. He doubted any women could. Cameron would never be able to believe it was her stomach and her breasts could be so calming. It was like being close to the earth. He lifted his hand and trailed her collar bone, to her breast, to her stomach hoping to find some plush like his mother, but no.
"Chase…?"
They didn't even call each other by their first names. No emotions, right? His mother called him Bobbie. And she would kiss his cheek with her blonde hair covering her face. Cameron didn't even kiss on the lips, she was always too rushed.
"House will be angry."
He knew that Cameron was irrevocably attached to House and if given the chance she would go to him and leave Chase behind. His mother did that too. If his father came home early, the nap was over and his mother would tend to her husband by making dinner and fixing him a drink. When his father left and his mother was only attached to a shadow, there were no afternoon naps. She replaced fixing drinks for Rowan to fixing drinks for herself. She no longer smelled of honey and milk but of gin and limes. The new smells were to acidic for him and he decided to stay away. He prayed to God that she would get better, but she got sicker and soon she wasted away to bones and loose skin.
His mother left him for his father and alcohol and Cameron would leave him for House and work.
But that was okay because right now he rested on her stomach, and even though it isn't the stomach he would have preferred, he still felt calm and close to the earth.