"Jack! What are you doing? Jack! Put me down." She tried to sound stern, but with her ankles flailing fruitlessly in the air in front of him, that was impossible to do.
"Phryne, you're going to wake the entire household." The Inspector whispered as he carried her up the stairs, her tiny body slung over his shoulder like a knapsack.
"Household be damned. I'm upside down!" She reminded him.
"You're drunk." He countered bluntly as he lowered her onto her bed.
"And how much eggnog did you have tonight?" She asked accusingly.
"Less than you." He promised her, earning a glare from her. "You tripped on the stairs twice. I wasn't risking you breaking your neck simply so you could prove your independence." He said matter of factly. "Now, where are your pajamas?"
"I don't wear them in the summer." She told him defiantly. "Why? Are you going to undress me too?" She hissed.
"That depends. Can you manage on your own?" He asked roughly, fulling willing to match her wit for wit tonight.
"Yes." She said, and began stripping for him, simply out of spite. "See?" She asked, naked as the day she was born.
"Yes. Quite." He replied, slightly redder but refusing to look away. "Now, into bed with you." He said as he came to his senses.
"Jack!"
"Now, Phryne." He commanded. He lifted her comforter and waited for her to cooperate. Phryne slunk toward him like a panther, barely a whisper coming between her and his suit jacket. They locked eyes until she continued straight past him and into bed. He threw the blanket over her.
"There. Are you happy now, Detective Inspector?" Phryne asked petulantly with an eye towards his trousers.
"Goodnight, Miss Fisher." He said blankly, revealing nothing to her as he turned out the light on her and shut the door behind him.