Hail to whatever you found in the sunlight that surrounds you

The first time they fall into bed together Sahira does not expect Jac to stay the night. Knowing the self contained red head she had already steeled herself for the other woman to mutter something sarcastic, dress and leave. So it's a pleasant surprise once they finish making love that Jac squeezes her fingers before rolling over to sleep. She almost seemed content.

It's almost too good to be true, only Sahira's thighs were already starting to ache and there was already the shadow of a bruise forming on the hollow of one of Jac's shoulders. The mere knowledge of the bruise existence made Sahira smirk, to know that she had marked her lover, that she had given as good as she could back. Sometimes she got to be the dominating one out of the pair, even (especially) if it was only in private it still made her ecstatically giddy.

So while the younger woman dozed Sahira was too wired to close her eyes. At first she had to bite into the cushion of her lower lip to resist the urge to poke Jac until she woke up enough to hold a conversation (or other things). Then she decided that for now, listening to the slow even pace of the sleeping woman's breathing was the perfect come down.

She was sure Jac would scowl and roll her eyes if Sahira ever voiced her thoughts out loud and liked how that made the most innocent actions seem like the naughtiest. Besides she so rarely got a chance to see the other woman with her guard down and it was only fair after Jac seemed to have taken up watching her sleep during her nights on call. Defiantly only fair.

Even as sweat dried and chilled skin to the night air Sahira still couldn't believe how this (them) had finally happened. It hadn't been a date as such, just two colleagues going out for a few drinks to celebrate their win (finally) over plastics. Only they hadn't wanted to get too drunk so had gone to a restaurant to eat first. It didn't help and they had ended up drunk enough that Jac started giggling and didn't look angry when Sahira slipped and called her 'hun'. And when the teenage boy who acted as their waiter winked at them and lit a single candle neither of them protested too much, happily gazing at each other over the softening light.

Sahira had wanted this for a long time but it had always been a fantasy. She had eaten half a dozen muffins in one pathetic sitting when she first realised it might be love. Because sad little squirrel's emotions would be stamped on and shattered by the scalpel wielding, bike straddling, super bitch.

Only now here they were and in a moment of quiet contemplation Sahira couldn't help but be astounded by the consultant, the fine network of blue veins under the surface of too pale skin, the sharpness of her vertebra against the narrowness of her back. She was struck by just how fragile Jac seemed and how it made her strength even more amazing.

Jac had kissed her first of course, she couldn't loose face by letting herself be kissed. But it had been Sahira who had made the first move and suggested they shared a taxi.

She had been bold and held Jac's waist tightly, pretending she was unsteady on her new heels, leaned a little too close when she brushed golden hair away from brilliant cheek bones and smiled against the other woman's lips when Jac backed them against the nearest convenient wall. In the end they almost did not make it to the bed.

There were a neat little row of words tattooed on Jac's side, following the path of a rib and ending just before the swell of a breast. The looping, strange handwriting was a surprise to Sahira. She wondered if it belonged to someone significant, it certainly was too patient and practiced to be Jac's own. The position of the tattoo meant that it would fall discreetly under the line of a bra. If she had seen it while sharing a locker room (and she had looked) Sahira would not be able to help herself enquiring about the ink.

'Destroy everything you love before everything you love destroys you'

She wonders, a finger tracing the words as if she can read their secrets through touch telepathy, wonders what had to happen to a person to put something so fierce beneath their skin. Her heart brakes a little for a woman who would never appreciate her sympathy. But she likes a mystery. She likes that it's her secret now too, even if she doesn't know the meaning yet she silently vows to find out.

Jac stirs in her sleep clearly irritated by Sahira's touch and mutters something unintelligible. Sahira only pulled her closer, pressing a butterfly kiss to the base of her neck and pulled the covers over their chilled bodies. In the morning this might all be over but Sahira was never one to give up easily.