They kissed. It was a strange feeling, to finally hold someone so close after all those years of not-closeness, to feel his mouth so firm on hers, foreign yet familiar. He tasted like he smelled, and she knew his smell. Not in the way people described: it wasn't something she felt giddy at or overwhelmed by. But it was so Elliot that she was reminded of the first time she had visited his home, where the vaguely comforting smell of his shirt and sweat was amplified a hundredfold. She had spent the first few minutes there wondering whether it was Elliot that made his home smell like him, or the home itself that made him smell like it, until the smell faded.
The former was the rational conclusion, no doubt; now that he was inside her mouth, she had an inkling she would smell of him later.
He stilled against her. "Why are you laughing?"
"Nothing." They broke apart for a moment, and she was acutely aware of the space between their lips, in the way a sore throat makes you so much more aware of your throat. "I was thinking about sniffer dogs."
"On the Alexander case?"
"No, it's you – you smell nice." She considered kissing him again. He appraised her with a look that said she could, but she didn't think she could quite bring herself to. Her face nestled into his chest instead. Perhaps it was best not to. Sniffer dogs had her mind drifting towards the day's work, and she knew he had gone down that path as well. The cases you didn't solve ate at a cop, and today had been chasing one of Olivia's unsolvable from years back.
Fruitless, as it turned out, but a day spent going over the failures of the past made for an introspective present. Every decision from eight years ago she had reassessed today. At the time she felt she was taking the right course, but there were lost opportunities in that case, opportunities Elliot had pointed out today. Not criticisms, necessarily, but she knew how he would have done things differently. He could lie to suspects, he could coerce, he could cross boundaries to seize chances other cops would balk at. It made him an intuitive partner and a lawyer's nightmare.
She felt him kiss her hair, nuzzling the top of her head, and it so she pulled his face down to hers again. He had been a lost opportunity until now, and she didn't intend that he become a cold case.
AU: This is a little something I jotted down when I had a moment. I felt the one-shot format suited it best, though it was probably concluded a little too early. If you are so inclined, please leave a review.