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He had hardly been sleeping these days, but to be fair, he had hardly been sleeping before. It seemed all too long ago that his nights had been spent star gazing rather than filled with restless thoughts of the coming day's battle plans.
He had been staring blankly at the wall, brows tensed as his pencil bounced uselessly against his book (his mind far too preoccupied to stand whatever homework he had been attempting) when he heard it: a barely audible tapping at his door. Had he been asleep, it would have hardly woken him.
Further investigation revealed Theresa, clad in pink pyjamas and a look of concern, her ginger hair tousled with sleep. "Jay." She breathed in greeting. "I saw your light on. Everything okay?"
"Yeah, just working on some homework."
She cocked an eyebrow up at him. "Bit late for polynomials, isn't it?" She didn't wait for an invitation and ducked under his arm, leaving him to gently click the door shut behind her.
He kept his distance, watching as she examined the problem he had been stuck on for the past few hours, one of her hands reaching up to keep her bangs off her face. "Can't sleep either?" She didn't answer immediately, instead picking up his discarded pencil and scratching in a number he no doubt missed.
"Something like that." She tapped the pencil against the page, her eyebrows beginning to tense, already beginning her work on the next question.
He crossed the room in a few steps, deft fingers gently plucking the pencil from her hands with a smirk. "I think I'm supposed to be doing those. Wouldn't want to put the quality of my education at risk."
She let out a small chuckle, finally looking up at him. "Oh no, I wouldn't want that."
He could smell her raspberry shampoo radiating from her hair, the proximity of her body to his sending his heart racing. He had spent his time in New Olympia always on his guard, both from Cronus and her; he knew just as well as his ancestor Jason that women could be a distraction to any mission. Yet he couldn't help himself around her. He lived for her small touches on the shoulder, or the accidental arm brushes on the couch. Everything about her sent his senses into overdrive. She turned toward him, her hazel eyes half lidded, letting her arms fall to her side. He was seized by the impulse to grab her, kiss her, anything to please the primal instinct inside him.
"Something on your mind?" He had said the words less out of actual curiosity than as a distraction, his hands balled into fists at his side.
She had noticed his tension, her eyes falling to his hands. "A lot of things, actually." She began to knot her fingers in her hair, every tousle sending another wave of scent crashing against him. She looked up at him, her lips pouting out ever so slightly, begging to be kissed...
"Anything I can help with?" He turned suddenly and crossed the room to open his window, the movement being enough for him to notice the tightening of his jeans against his flesh. Breathing heavily against the evening air, he gripped the window frame tightly, the tension in his back being more than enough to tell him he couldn't last another moment alone with her without his guard giving way to desire.
"Are you feeling okay Jay?" The suddenness of his movement had been enough to clear her mind and send her immediately to his side, her hand settling into the small of his back smoothly. To his horror, she placed a hand to his cheek, a look of concern falling on her features. "You're burning up. Maybe you should lie down?"
He almost laughed, grabbing her wrist. "No, ah, I'm fine. Just a bit overwhelmed." The wind gently tousled her bangs, and before he could stop himself he had reached up and smoothed it back into place.
Try as he might, he couldn't stop once he started; the smoothness of her hair was hypnotizing to him, as was the sound of the soft breath that escaped her lips as his fingers followed the gentled curve of her ear and jaw, finally coming to rest on the small dimple of her chin. Brown eyes met hazel, his grip on her wrist loosening as he let their hands fall, his fingers gently stroking her tenderly soft flesh before he released her.
What he wanted- what he needed- from her could not be satisfied. With Cronus around, it never could. Maybe in another life, maybe after... Maybe never.
Knotting his fingers back into her hair, he released himself to impulse for a moment, his lips pressing against the smooth skin of her forehead. Pulling back almost too quickly, he released her from his grasp, allowing his hands to flow only once more through her hair. "I think it's time we both got some sleep."
Recognizing the dismissal, she turned from him, leaving him with nothing but the evening breeze and his thoughts.
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