Disclaimer: See chapter 1.
Author's Note(s): Daaaaaaaang! Up to 14 chapters already! ~Whistles~ Awesome! XD The smex will get here eventually. But I like building the relationships first; no matter how strange they may be! Kuwahahahahah!
Remember to review and enjoy pretties! X3
"A Black Cat and a White Coat"
"Here's a Hand to Hold Onto"
Gwen awoke about ten minutes or so later to the soft and familiar sound of medical equipment and frowned. What had happened? And where was she…? The blonde slowly blinked her eyes open; trying to adjust to the florescent light. Silvery grey orbs widened as she realized she was back in Tabitha's lab!
Oh dear! How had she gotten here?! The last thing she remembered was that Tabitha seemed a little upset with her for… oh no! Had she been dissected?! Gwen sat up and began examining herself for incision marks. The lass exhaled in relief when she found that she was still intact and nothing seemed to be amiss!
"Did you have a bad dream?" A voice close by said with a VERY familiar tone of morbid fascination mixed with slight concern. Gwen's eyes widened as she turned her head in shock; only to stare in disbelief as her face was now only a mere three inches from the Mad Scientist's, as the woman merely gazed with inquisitive passiveness.
Tabitha had been standing beside the other's bed, lost in thought, when she felt the little whoosh of the blonde abruptly sitting up and checking herself over for something that was not there; much to the taller woman's relief it seemed, and so Tabitha took it that the other must have had a nightmare of some sort.
She had not had the thought to move as she regarded her patient, but upon the expression the other wore, she took a step backward to put some distance between them; wondering why such an expression of shock would cause a small twinge of hurt to arise. It wasn't that she wanted to be feared or hated by the blonde… she just needed her space and time to collect herself like she did after having to work at the hospital all day. Being around people too much always made the little boffin feel drained and a tad irritable at times.
"I…" Gwen started quietly, but then swallowed and nodded instead. Tabitha merely reciprocated with one of her own; noticing how the beeping on the machine sped up to show that the patient's heartbeat had quickened a little.
"How are you feeling?" Gwen muddled this over for a few moments and her doctor waited patiently.
"I'm not sure…" After waiting a little longer, Tabitha saw that this was all the response she was going to get out of the other and merely gave another nod.
"Can you move or do you need to stay here for a while?" The question held enough concern for Gwen to take notice and snap out of her unsure daze a little. She frowned some. She didn't mind Tabitha's lab, but she disliked the thought of staying in any place reminiscent of a hospital for too long.
"I can move." The blonde confirmed, and Tabitha began unhooking her from the few machines and IV she had her on. Gwen hated needles and when Tabitha put a band-aide over the puncture where the IV had been, she began rubbing it to relieve some of the soreness like she had the last time she'd had one.
"Come on then." Tabitha said as the mutant held out a hand to offer to help the other out of bed. Gwen paused and blinked at the gesture, but then smiled some and accepted it. Tabitha helped her off of the bed, but Gwen didn't let go of her hand when she was now standing on her own. The boffin frowned for a second, but thought better of saying anything and merely let the blonde continue to gingerly hold her hand.
They headed back out into the living room area and Tabitha glanced around thoughtfully. It was evening and Gwen was probably tired and hungry. Without another word, Tabitha grabbed her wallet off of the desk and then proceeded to phase herself and Gwen back into Gwen's apartment.
The blonde gave a shiver; feeling surprised and an odd sensation when they phased through the wall! Tabitha saw that Gwen had a television and knew that most people liked to watch TV. That was a relaxing thing. She lead Gwen over to the bed; setting her wallet on the bedside table, and going about setting up the pillows with one hand as she had last time.
All the while the blonde was blushing as she watched bemusedly. Was Tabitha going to stay the night again?! The mere thought made her feel all tingly and excited and she ended up accidentally giving Tabitha's hand a happy little squeeze. The boffin turned to look at her questioningly but Gwen merely smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of her head.
The other shrugged and then sat down on the bed; pulling Gwen forward and leading her over to sit beside her. Gwen pouted a little because she did rather want to be all curled up on Tabitha like last time, but decided that if the other was trying to be nice then perhaps she should keep her mouth shut and try not to cause a reaction like she had earlier that evening.
Gwen couldn't help feeling bad for causing the kind boffin to become defensive and feel the need to get away from the blonde as she had. But it was obvious that Tabitha felt similar to having caused her to faint, so they were sort of even in that regard. The fact that the other was trying to make it up to her was very nice though!
"Are you hungry Gwen?" The question caused the blonde to snap out of her happy little moment of thought.
"W-wh-what?!" Gwen stammered; blushing furiously as she stared at the other. Tabitha quirked her eyebrow a little; finding amusement in the other's reaction.
"For food. Not me." The boffin couldn't help but to tease the blonde, which only caused the woman further embarrassment as she looked like her brain had stopped working for a few seconds. Then, Gwen nodded tentatively and Tabitha pulled out her cellphone from the pocket of her lab coat.
"What would you like?" Tabitha asked again as she patiently waited for Gwen to decide. The lass frowned thoughtfully before looking curiously at the other.
"What do you want to eat?" The doctor hadn't really expected her opinion to be asked for.
"Doesn't matter." She shrugged nonchalantly, but that only made the blonde frown in a pouting manner.
"Yes it does. You shouldn't have to eat something you don't like. We can both decide." Gwen told her in a final sort of way. Tabitha blinked. Had… Gwen just been assertive? Sure, it was a simple little expression of it, but it was still assertion nonetheless!
So, the boffin nodded and they discussed it; which helped to alleviate some of the tension and awkwardness (most of which was felt by Gwen of course). Then, Tabitha called and placed the order and then it was time for them to wait.
The umber haired female found the remote control in the drawer of the bedside table and turned on the television. They sat there in relative silence as Tabitha began channel surfing; telling Gwen to stop when something the blonde liked came on.
They barely made it halfway before the lovely lass made an excited little "Oooo!" sound at something. Tabitha paused and then quickly went back to the flash of color, only to end up tilting her head to the side curiously.
Gwen hadn't meant to let the sound slip, in fact, she was a little embarrassed when she saw how Tabitha was now frowning bewilderedly at the cartoon on the screen. Okay, yeah, she wasn't a little kid anymore, but that didn't mean she couldn't like cartoons! The blonde tried not to die from blushing as the theme song for "Pucca" played.
Tabitha's eyes widened when she saw that it had adorable looking animated cats on there and quickly set the remote down. It was finally Gwen's turn to quirk an eyebrow because she didn't know why the other reacted that way or why she had a small smile as the episode came on, until the model saw that the other was watching the troublesome cats getting defeated by the good ninja cat and then the woman remembered that Tabitha had a fancy for felines.
With a smirk, she felt better that she wasn't the only one in the room who could be childish at times, and liked seeing that side of the boffin. The blonde ended up watching Tabitha more than the show; every once in a while absentmindedly moving her thumb over the other's hand that she was still being allowed to hold, and was pretty happy that the doctor didn't seem to mind.
There came a knock on the door and Tabitha pulled her hand from Gwen's, but the blonde didn't fuss and managed to restrain herself very well she thought. She watched the dark haired mutant pay for the take-out and set it on the table. Gwen got up as well and they ate together; conversing pleasantly about whatever came to mind.
The blonde even remembered a little of what she had been having trouble with in her homework and Tabitha kindly offered her assistance. When they were done eating, they went over to Gwen's desk and the boffin politely explained in a manner which she was able to comprehend, and together Gwen was finally able to get her work done to her own satisfaction.
"You know Tabitha, you're a much better tutor than Pete ever was!" The college student smiled brightly and it was further brightened when she saw a dusting of pink on the boffin's face at the compliment. Tabitha reached up and adjusted her glasses; even though they didn't need it.
"Yes… well… thank you…" It was odd, but the boffin liked hearing that she was better than someone in Gwen's eyes. She definitely knew she was better than the Parker twit at probably everything academic-wise, but even so… the fact that Gwen noticed and appreciated it made it… nicer.
Gwen leaned back in her chair and stretched from having sat there so long. Tabitha heard the other sigh softly and looked over from a text book she had been flipping through.
She smiled softly at how the other reminded her of a sleepy cat and the emotionally repressed mutant couldn't help finding Gwen in that moment to be cute. Curious how the other enticed such thoughts, but she found it didn't bother her as much as it probably should have.
The model straightened up and noticed how the doctor smiled at her. The endearing expression made her stomach feel fluttery and warm, and it only increased when Tabitha said that since it had been such a long day that they should get ready for bed.
The blonde agreed, but the fact that she said they both should is what made her hopeful that the other would spend the night again. It was a wonderful change to have had the company.
To be continued...! Dun dun DUUUUUN!
LOL! Okay, so yeah. Gwen is getting more and MORE attached to Tabitha and Tabi is learning to deal with that as best she can. XD But yah can't blame Gwen. She's never had anybody care about her or be so awesome to her before like how Tabitha does it. Lmfao! And Tabi was pretty happy that Gwen told her she was better than Peter. XD I like how she reacted all cutely about it!
Anyways! XD Enjoy, and reviews are welcomed and make me happy. And feedback is ALWAYS appreciated so long as it is helpful and polite.
Until next time... Tootles! X3