Jenos and Rinslet. Ha ha! This is a winter fic but I hope it makes you feel warm and cozy.
"What's this?" Rins asked, holding a card.
"An invitation. Would you accompany me to the party?" Jenos asked. He didn't really think Rinslet would accept, but it never hurt to try.
"No! Jenos, just leave me alone!" Rinslet stalked off.
He pursued her for several weeks, flowers, gifts, dinner invitations, everything. Nothing worked. Rinslet seemed determined to ignore him.
"Rins, come on. Will going to dinner with me really be so bad?" he asked, crossing his fingers. 'Let this work,' he thought.
Indecision was scrawled all over Rinslet's face. Would it be so bad? On one hand, Yes! It was Jenos. It was bound to be a disaster. On the other, 'He looks so sweet, just like the time he gave me flowers. I kicked him out the door, didn't I?' And he was sweet. He was so determined, too. Conflict! Nooo!!
"Alright," she muttered, blushing. "If it'll get you to leave me alone, I'll go."
Jenos broke into a grin. "You'll have so much fun, Rins!" 'You won't want me to leave you alone.'
It started to snow lightly that evening. Rinslet met Jenos at the restaurant. (He'd taken a taxi, and she'd walked.) The snow looked so pretty, falling softly outside. They had talked easily all through the meal. Rinslet was surprised at how enjoyable it was. Jenos didn't even flirt with every girl there. Alright, he did flirt with most of them, but Rinslet was almost willing to overlook it tonight. She had no idea why that was. Maybe the weather had mellowed her out.
"I'll walk you home," Jenos said.
"What if I don't want to be walked home?" Rinslet asked. For an answer, Jenos linked his arm though Rins' and steered her toward her home.
'This man!' Rinslet thought angrily, 'thinks he can do whatever he wants.' She pulled her arm away from his and stooped over, unaware of Jenos' appreciative look at her rear. She scooped up a handful of snow and threw it at Jenos. It hit his cheek.
'Ha, ha! That'll show him.'
Unfortunately for Rinslet, Jenos loved to play in the snow (and prided himself on his excellent snowball marksmanship skills). He grinned mischievously as he bent over. Rinslet was in front of him, already marching toward her apartment. Jenos took aim…
"Score!!" he yelled, punching the air.
Rins turned around, red flush of anger on her cheeks. The snowball had hit her in the butt.
"Jenos!" She yelled.
"Yes, Rins?" he replied innocently.
She threw another snowball at him. This one only clipped his sleeve. "This means war!"
What had gotten into her? Throwing snowballs?! 'Oh well,' she shrugged. 'Too late now.'
Thus began the snowball war. Snow flew in both directions as Rinslet and Jenos began to fight in earnest. It was going in Rinslet's favor until Jenos decided to makeup some new rules.
He rushed at Rinslet with a handful of snow and shoved it down the back her shirt. She screeched from the cold and sent Jenos flying.
'It was worth it,' he thought.
Stage Two: Stuff as much snow down someone's shirt as you can-begin.
Of course, anytime a girl walked down the street, Jenos had to look and comment. That was why he was full of snow. That, and Rinslet was repaying him for all the girls he'd looked at through dinner.
No girls were in sight now though. Jenos charged Rinslet and knocked her into the snow. Rins grabbed Jen's shirt so he would land in snow too. Unluckily for Rins (luckily for Jenos) he fell right on top of her. He didn't quite land on her, because he put his hands on either side of Rinslet's head.
Rins stared up at Jenos. 'What should I do? Push him off or-Why am I even debating this?!'
Jenos stared into Rinslet's eyes. 'If I kiss her, will she kill me? Most likely,' he thought. 'So I'll just stand up easy, and she'll think I'm great.' However, before Jenos could do this, Rins forcefully shoved him over into the snow next to her and stood up. She planted one foot on Jen's chest. "I win!" she said, smiling.
Rinslet let Jenos pick himself up as she looked at the sky. The clouds were a lot darker and heavier than before.
"C'mon Rins. I've got to take you home."
"Sure. It's starting to look bad out, though." It had started to snow again, and it was harder this time.
"We'll walk quickly," Jenos said, grabbing Rinslet's hand and practically dragged her home.
By the time the pair got to the apartment the wind had picked up and the snow was coming down hard.
At the doorstep, Rinslet frowned. She flipped the light switch up and down. "I think the power's out."
"What?!"
"Yeah. Jenos, come inside for a minute."
"Seriously Rins?! This is awesome!"
"Don't touch anything!!" she snapped. She stared out the door, trying to gauge how bad the storm was going to get and if the power company could come.
"Jenos, maybe you should stay here tonight." Rinslet said.
Jen's eyes lit up. "Wow, Rins, I thought you were never going to ask-" he was cut off by Rinslet's shoe.
"I don't want to sleep with you, you pervert! It's snowing out and there's no power!"
"I didn't know you cared." Jenos was pleased.
"Jenos, look, we're not even a couple."
"We could be if you wanted." He said, and was promptly hit with a second shoe. 'Ah, well, can't say I didn't try.'
Rinslet glanced out the window. "It's getting worse. You'd probably get lost trying to find a hotel now."
"Don't you trust my sense of direction?" he asked, looking wounded.
"Of course not," she snapped, "I'll make you a spot on the couch, all right? It's pretty dark out too. I'll call the electric company in a few minutes. Go to the kitchen. "
Jenos walked off. 'Why me?' Rins wondered. She was very unsure about her decision. After all, Jenos was a huge flirt. Oddly though, she didn't want him hurt out there. More conflict! Argh!!
She walked into the kitchen. "Here," Jenos said, thrusting a glass of wine into her hand.
"Thanks," Rinslet muttered, oblivious to or ignoring the fact that the wine was from her private stash.
They sat in silence for a while as they sat nursing their drinks. Finally, Jenos stretched. "I think it's time for bed."
Rins nodded. "I'm calling the power company."
"Hello?" she asked, once she connected.
The man at the other end sounded tired. "Yes?"
Rinslet told him the power was out in her building and he replied that the whole city was out and power would not return until morning. "Spend the night with a friend," he advised. Rins hung up, annoyed.
"You're sleeping on the couch." She said curtly.
"But I'll be cold!" Jenos whined.
"I put blankets over there!! It's not that cold out!" 'Honestly,' she thought, 'he acts like such a child sometimes.' "Here's a flashlight and some candles and matchsticks."
"I'm going to bed," she continued. "My room's this one. Don't go near it!" she said. "The bathroom is this one," she said, pointing out a door on the right.
Both had just drifted off to sleep in their separate rooms when Jenos woke with a start. "What was that?" he muttered.
"Hey, Jen?" Rins called. "You alright?"
"Yeah, what was that?"
"I don't know." She felt here way over to the heater. 'Damn.' "Well, it wasn't the power." Rins felt her way over to the dresser and pulled out a sweatshirt. It had gotten colder out. She walked out the door and bumped into Jenos.
"What're you doing?" she hissed.
"Just thought you might need some company."
"Didn't I tell you not to come near here?!" Rins yelled, smacking Jenos. "I'm going to check the kitchen." She passed Jenos, who turned to follow her.
She made it to the kitchen easily, having memorized the layout of the apartment long before.
She was lighting a second candle when Jenos managed to get there.
"It's hard to figure out where I'm going in the dark like this." Jenos laughed a little (Rins: sweat drop-he's an assassin?).
"Here," she said, handing him one of the candles. She started walking around the kitchen with the other candle.
"Hey, wait! What am I supposed to do with this?"
"Help me look for whatever made that noise."
Jenos noticed she looked very hot in her violet robe the second the candles were lit. He moved around the apartment, looking for something.
"I think this is it," Rinslet said, rolling her eyes. "You fell asleep and kicked this book off the table."
He went back to the couch to sleep, slightly annoyed at himself. He'd managed to look like an idiot in front of Rinslet. He tried to sleep, but his mind was preoccupied with Rinslet's sexiness. He liked women, sure, but Rins was definitely something special.
Rinslet was trying to sleep, but her mind was also wandering. She was thinking about Jenos, only meters away. In her head, she listed his pros and cons, then wondered why she was bothering.
'I'm cold,' she realized. 'And Jenos has all the extra blankets. Damn.' Unwilling to take blankets from her guest, Rinslet lay there and shivered in silence for a few minutes. She should just steal his blankets, but she liked him too much to –'I like him?!'
There was a knock on her door and it opened, creaking, a small light shining in.
"Rinslet?" Jenos was nervous about asking this but he was cold. If it had been any other girl but Rins…she was intimidating in her own way. Oh, he could stop her physically, but his brain wouldn't allow it. In front of Rinslet, Jenos was as powerless as a ball of string in front of a kitten.
"Hmm?" She tried to sound like he'd woken her up.
"It's cold out there and it's cold in here. Do you think we could share the bed?" He said, fervently hoping Rinslet would agree. He was cold, and if he was honest with himself, he wanted to share the bed with her, more that he had wanted anything for a long time.
Funny, she'd been trying to get that notion into her head. It didn't click until Jenos said it out loud. "Fine. You just stay on that half." There was no way he was going to win this war easily.
Jenos slipped into the bed. Rins was on the half by the wall. Jen inched closer to Rinslet, who said nothing. He was still cold. Rinslet's insulation sucked. He moved closer to the wall (and Rins). She was shivering.
"Rins, come on. I'm cold, too."
Rinslet was having a mental debate with herself. She was still cold, but was warmth worth her pride? And, would she loose that much pride if she snuggled closer to Jenos. Earlier today, the answer would heave been an empathetic yes. Now she wasn't sure. It had been fun playing in the snow. Then, Jen's voice had come, convincing her to swallow her pride and warm up.
She scooted closer to Jenos and he moved nearer to her. 'He's warm. That's nice.' Pride forgotten, Rins snuggled close to Jenos and he wrapped his arm around her.
Somehow, it wasn't repulsive. It felt nice. She breathed in. It smelled nice too. Rinslet sniffed Jen's shirt. It was him. She buried her nose in Jen's shirt, trying to figure out what the scent was. Rins could feel his chest rumble with laughter.
When Rinslet's warm body pressed up against his, Jenos was so surprised his breath hitched for a moment. Then he put his arm around Rins, hugging her closer. Then she started sniffing his shirt. It was so unlike her that he started to laugh softly. Rinslet seemed to like that, too.
He bent his head and sniffed her hair. It smelled like roses. Rinslet could feel Jen's nose in her hair and she almost giggled.
They both shifted for a moment, getting comfortable, then Jenos kissed Rinslet, very softly. She was surprised, then outraged, and then she kissed him back.
She broke it. "It's business as usual in the morning." She told him softly.
He grinned, although Rins couldn't see it. "I know," he said and kissed her again.
Rinslet fell asleep with the touch of Jenos' hand on her hair and his taste on her lips.
Yeah, it's just a one-shot, but I like it anyway.