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cafuné: portuguese: (v.)
( - the act of running your fingers through your lover's hair - )
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Chapter 4: Married to a Spy
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"Come on, Sab, put some clothes on, it's date night!"
Sabina was curled up in the corner of the couch wearing little more than a T-shirt and a blanket. The enthusiastic greeting had followed the sound of the door opening and slamming shut. Loud, approaching footsteps told her that he hadn't taken his shoes off. Rather than being met with a smile, Alex's proclamation inspired a yawn.
"The couch, though…" Sabina trailed off.
"Yes," said Alex patiently, "we love the couch. But it will be here when we get back."
He bounced over and dropped down onto the cushions, attempting to gather her into his arms. Sabina went limp in response, drawing a frustrated noise from Alex. He paused, both hands closed around her wrists, which he held high above their heads. Sabina blinked at him, distinctly sloth-like. He frowned.
"What's wrong with you? I just got back! Don't you want to go out and do something fun? We can go to any restaurant in town without worrying about reservations! Sab, we can go to Marcello's!"
Sabina wiggled her body until Alex let go, then sunk back into the couch, a small, satisfied smile hijacking her expression. "I know we can," she responded. "That's precisely why I don't want to."
Alex had given up trying to physically detach her from the couch.
"What do you mean?" he asked quietly, disappointment evident in his voice.
"We go out for dinner all the time. We get the expensive bottle of wine. We split the fancy dessert–"
"Ah, we 'split' it, right–"
"How often do we just stay in and sit around, though? How often do you sit around?"
Not very often was the answer. Between being away for weeks at a time doing God knows what and trying to compensate for his absences by planning elaborate activities for Sabina and him, very rarely did Alex sit down and relax. Sabina threw an arm around her husband, pulling him in closer. Alex resisted, not quite ready to give up the fight.
"But – but it's Friday! There's so much going on tonight! Are you sure you want to miss it?"
"Aren't you ever tired?" she asked. "I'm exhausted, and I don't do nearly as much running around as you! Honestly, where does it all come from?"
"Coffee? Adrenaline? I don't know, I've never been one to question it."
"Do you need me to tire you out?"
Alex broke out into a wide grin. "Well, if you insist–"
"I didn't mean like that," she added. "I meant like this!"
On the word, Sabina surged to her feet and leaped on top of him. As a testament to Alex's ridiculous reflexes, he caught her with both hands and twisted her around so that her back hit his chest. Arms pinned firmly to her sides, she struggled helplessly. "Damn it, Alex!"
"What?" he said defensively, warm breath tickling her ear.
"It's not fun if you immediately shut it down," she told him, turning her head to gnaw at his shoulder.
"Hey! Don't bite!"
"Unhand me!"
"Every time you attempt to 'play fight', somebody ends up getting hurt. And it's always me–"
"I told you last time was an accident! How was I supposed to know the coffee table was there?"
"It's always there! It never moves!"
Sabina tried once last time to break free, to no avail. The more she moved, the tighter he squeezed. It was like being stuck in a giant Chinese finger trap.
"Alright…" she said. "If you get to use your ninja-skills on me, then I'm not going to hold back, either..."
Alex eyed her wearily. "What are you…"
Sabina's hands moved behind her so that they landed on Alex's hips, slipping beneath the fabric of his shirt. At the same time, she leaned back into his embrace and started moving, very intentionally–
Alex released her, forcing his hands into the air. "Okay," he said, red-faced, "you win."
She jumped off the couch and gestured at the TV with a flourish, revealing her state of pantless-ness. "I'll give you two options, Alex."
"I'll bet you haven't even put on pants today," he accused.
"Correction: it's been two days."
"You sound way too proud of that fact."
"Enough about pants! Are you listening to me? Option A: pizza and action-adventure. Option B: thai food and psychological thriller. Choose!"
Alex sunk into the couch dejectedly. "I want to watch a romantic comedy."
"You always want to watch a romantic comedy."
"That's not true! I also enjoy satire."
It made perfect sense why the two of them differed in their tastes. For Alex, action-adventure was all in a day's work, and psychological thriller was pretty much a given. As a freelance journalist, much of Sabina's time was spent reading, writing, researching or interviewing; a routine which offered plenty in social critiques and stimulating conversations. The two of them argued about it for another ten minutes until Sabina ultimately gave up – at which point, Alex immediately offered to let her choose. It was a strange rule of his to fight bitterly until the end, and then at the last minute insist of doing things her way.
Sabina flitted about the room: dimming the lights, pulling the curtains and tidying the pillows on the couch while Alex chose a movie from the selection on the screen. Eventually they settled in next to each other, tucked away beneath a quilt that Sabina had fashioned with her grandma as a child. The house was full of similarly-sentimental keepsakes, of which almost every last one belonged to Sabina. (Many had since been put into storage following the incident with the shattered china.)
"It's the commissioner. He's in on it."
"What? No way. The movie just started, it's way too early to–"
"Ten bucks."
"Twenty!"
"Done."
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A/N: Wow, it's been a while hasn't it?! I must confess, the only reason I've updated this story is because I found this chapter half-written in the depths of my documents folder and thought it'd be a shame never to upload it. That and I figured with AitF and LaB right now, a light-hearted update of some kind was in order…
Please enjoy! And let me know in a review if there's any sort of Alex/Sabina scene you've day-dreamed about reading. I take requests!
