It had been a long mission. When he arrives back at Sanctuary with little news to report to HQ except that he's done his job, Gaige knows without him even saying anything that she should follow him back to his ship. He waits for her there, leaning against the wall across from his FTS for only ten minutes before she appears, all smiles and bright eyes. She jumps into his arms and he catches her, the weariness of his limbs fading from his mind as he touches her. He rips his helmet off and tosses it aside before kissing her, firm and slow. They kiss for a few minutes, his back pressed against the wall, but Zer0's too tired to keep going like this. He's considering just setting her down and taking the shower he so desperately needs when an idea flits through his mind. "I need to shower/ would you like to come with me?/ I can't keep this up."

"Oh hell yeah," Gaige grin and nods, "hot water and you naked, what's not to like?"

He smiles and shakes his head, setting her down. He makes his way to the bathroom, starting to peel off his armor and set it in a nice pile as soon as he reaches the room. (Cleaning his armor with have to wait for tomorrow.) He's just taking off his pants when he turns to look at Gaige. She's already down to her bra and panties, having most likely lost the rest of her clothes over their short journey. He slides off his underwear, watching as she unhooks her bra.

She notices his gaze and grins. "See anything you like?" she says, sliding out of her underwear.

"Obviously," Zer0 shakes his head and laughs, leaning down to peck her on the lips before climbing in to the shower and gesturing for her to follow.

He grabs soap and a wash cloth, smiling down at a grinning Gaige as her red hair grows wetter and darker before he starts to scrub at his skin and mods with brutal efficiency.

Gaige starts cleaning herself off too, her eyes eagerly taking his body in as she starts to talk about what she'd been up to while he was gone. He listens and responds where necessary but doesn't add much himself. Gaige doesn't seem to mind, seems to know by now that sometimes he'll be less chatty than others and let's him be, mostly just stealing kissing from less soapy bits of him as she talks which causes him to smile.

Once he finishes cleaning himself off, he starts on Gaige's hair, now thicker and several inches longer then when they'd first met. He's running his fingers through her hair as he helps her rinse out the shampoo, just enjoying the simple intimacy of the action.

"Done," he says a moment later and she turns around to face him, wrapping her arms around his waist and pressing her breasts into his stomach.

"So…now that we're both clean," she glances up at him and grins mischievously, "wanna get dirty all over again?" She wiggles her eyebrows in a suggestive fashion as if her meaning wasn't obvious.

Zer0 feels his body respond to the suggestion immediately but shakes his head. "No."

She's about to keep talking, having already assumed that her question was rhetorical when she seems to register what he's said. Her face falls and she crinkles her brow in confusion. "No?"

He meets her eyes and shakes his head again. "Not right now."

Gaige squints up at him from where she's still plastered against his chest. "Wait a minute, if you didn't want to have hot shower sex, then why did you invite me in here?"

Zer0 crinkles up his nose in thought, wondering how he can explain this to her. He knows that in the past, all of their showers had always turned to sex, the primary goal of getting clean often becoming forgotten in the rush of lust and contact. Right now though, Zer0 doesn't want anything like that. He's tired and feels ragged around the edges, a part of his brain still hashing over every tiny mistake he made on his last mission. Having Gaige here helps him focus on the now and he'd missed her while he was gone, some unquantifiable ache in his chest filling up with warmth now that she's here. He'd hoped that they could just do this and not talk about it but that doesn't seem to be the case. He sighs. "I just… wanted you close, is that alright?"

Gaige grins and shakes her head, "Of course it's alright. I'm just still… confused?" She cocks her head slightly, "Like we're naked and you do seem a bit turned on? Are you just too tired right now?"

"It is not just that," Zer0 shakes his head, "Sometimes I do not want sex/ I am not like you."

"Ohhh," she says, her eyes growing wide as if something has just clicked in her head, "so is this like how you hadn't had sex for years until you met me?"

"Yes," Zer0 nods.

Gaige looks pleased with herself for a second but then her expression falls. "Wait… does that mean you're starting to… lose interest in having sex with me? Like the novelty-"

"No," he says, backing up and leaning down to kiss her, "that is not it/ this is just a sometimes thing/ just a part of me."

Gaige looks up into Zer0's eyes and smiles sheepishly. "So you're saying that you just don't want sex sometimes but you're still totally into me, right?"

Zer0 shakes his head, a quiet chuckle escaping his lips. "Right," he says, pecking her on the lips again.

"Good," she laughs and kisses him, slow and firm, like they had in the hallway earlier.

Zer0 sinks into the feeling, enjoying the contact but not wanting to go any further with it. And that's alright with Gaige, he realizes with a smile (Well now that she kinda understands at least). A moment later though, he realizes something and he's pulling away from her. "We're wasting water," he says, turning off the spout and starting to climb out.

"Oh shit," she says, scurrying after him and grabbing a towel before handing him a second one. "So what do you want to do tonight?," she says, drying off her hair, "Cuddles and movies?"

"Shichinin no Samurai," he nods.

"Alright," she says, shaking her head a little, "but I hope you have a copy with subtitles this time. My translator doesn't cover ancient Japanese and you know it."

Zer0 laughs and nods, scooping up a towel clad Gaige and carrying her off to the bedroom and a night spent warm in his arms.