Later that night she mulled over the kiss and what it meant. A deep sigh escaped her mouth when she thought that it was indeed the best for both of them if this never happened again. As much as she had liked it, she had enough stuff to deal with. And Maura's behavior this day had also made it clear that the blonde wasn't interested in a fling or whatever.
She had noticed that Maura was not wearing a ring, nor had she shown any reaction to Jane saying that both being married, but Jane recalled Frost mentioning that she was. Jane wondered why.
It occurred to her that she didn't even know about Maura's sexual orientation. Gay marriage was allowed in the states now. But what did her orientation matter anyways as this was never going to happen again she scolded herself. Too complicated, too messy, too wrong Jane thought with a deep sigh while reaching for the light switch.
Her tall figure shot out of bed when she heard a scream coming from Maura's room.
Only seconds later the she found herself standing in front of Maura's door with one arm lifted to knock. Said door flew open and the blonde ran directly into Jane who gave a surprised gasp.
So much for the plan not to get into each other's personal spaces again. Jane smirked and wrapped her arms around the doc. "What happened?" she asked expecting another spider appearance. The petite was shaking. Jane felt her racing heart against her chest.
"There's a snake in my bed!" Maura exclaimed in shock. The brunette thought that this couldn't be right. How could a snake end up in a hotel room on the 7th floor?
"Okay. Let me check." She replied calmly but Maura held her back.
"It's a Dendroaspis polylepis!" Maura whispered fiercely. "A black mamba – highly poisonous." She explained at Janes furrowed eyebrows. The brunette chuckled. "How do you do that?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Do what?" Maura shot her a confused glance.
"Tear out all of this information without thinking one second." Jane smiled in awe.
"I don't know. I just know them." Maura was still confused. Then Jane cleared her throat while pushing the door open to look towards the bed where she saw indeed a snake poking out of the covers.
"Holy shit!" Jane exclaimed and threw the door shut before glancing at Maura again. They both stared at each other in the dim light of the corridor. "I was pulling back the cover to go to bed when I noticed something weird." The doc explained and Jane pulled her back into a hug because she was still shaking.
"We need to go back to my room and call the reception." She stated.
A pale Maura nodded. "I almost climbed into bed with it." She mumbled still shocked.
"You don't have to sleep in that room tonight." Jane tried to calm her down. "Or in another room of this place if you don't want to for this matter. You can stay with me until we manage to clear up how a black mamba ended up in your bed." She said while cupping Maura's face in her hands to make the blonde look into her eyes. She resisted the urge to kiss the blonde again. Instead she gave her a reassuring smile.
R&I
The man at the reception first thought that Jane was joking when she described the problem. He assured her that this had never happened before. How could it? Snakes didn't take elevators or staircases he explained with a giggle.
His face turned as pale as Maura's had been earlier though when he checked the room ten minutes later. "I'm really sorry. I swear it never happened before! I have no idea how this could be possible." he emphasized to Jane as they were standing in the hallway, waiting for someone to catch the snake.
What if somebody had uncovered Maura's real reason for the journey? What if this person wanted to make the ME feel uncomfortable on purpose to make her leave? A lot of questions were tumbling through her head as she walked back to her room where Maura was still sitting on the edge of her bed. Apparently, the doc hadn't moved one inch since Jane had left her to meet with the receptionist in the hallway.
"Hey, hey." Jane said gently as she sat down next to the shaking body. "Its okay. You are safe now. I will check the room now if it makes you feel better."
Maura looked at her with grateful eyes and Jane did as mentioned. Once she was done Maura went to take a shower. When the blonde reemerged, she was wearing some of Jane jogging shorts and one of her BPD shirts.
"Thanks for letting me stay." Maura said, looking much better and Jane smiled at her. Damn, was there an outfit in which the doc didn't look hot? The brunette smirked and slipped off the bed to grab some clothes to change into in the bathroom.
There was kind of an awkward moment when they almost bumped into each other while crossing paths in the middle of the room. "Huh?" Jane mumbled and grinned sheepishly. Maura blushed slightly. Then Jane took a step to the left to let the doc pass. But Maura did the exact same thing and so they were facing each other again.
They giggled nervously. "I'm going to the right and you can move to the bed." Jane said and Maura agreed.
Janes Mantra for the rest of the evening was: it can't happen again…. Though the temptation to kiss her again grew with Maura lying next to her in the same bed. They watched some TV to calm down and Jane was glad when the doc finally fell asleep.
R&I
The next day greeted them with beautiful sunshine. Jane who awoke to an empty bed thought that the whole thing must have been just a dream. Well, that was until she heard the toilet flushing and saw Maura walking into the room. As an early riser she was already awake and in the mood to chat.
Which Jane wasn't – neither of both. The brunette pulled the pillow over her head and grunted. "Too early." She mumbled. No wonder the woman had fallen asleep so early the previous night if she rose every day at this ungodly hour.
"Come on. Rise and shine." Maura chuckled, pulling the pillow away from Janes head. "It's a beautiful day and we are going on another Safari." The blonde almost chanted. "Can't I just stay in bed today?" Jane whined to herself.
"Why would you want to miss the adventure?" Maura asked, putting her delicate watch onto her wrist. Jane wasn't used to someone talking back in the morning and cringed.
"Because its so cozy in bed." She whined again and felt like a teenager who refused to go to school. "Can't we say that I'm sick?" she mumbled.
Maura chuckled. "Sleep deprivation." The doc diagnosed. "Leads to hallucinations after three days and can even end in death."
Jane hitched a breath. "Death?" she asked incredulously.
"Yes, death." Maura replied seriously.
"See, that's why I sleep till the last minute every morning." Jane stated triumphantly while slipping out of bed.
"It also might be because you stay up late." Maura replied, glancing down her own body. Jane who was in the bathroom brushing her teeth heard a huff. "I have nothing to wear."
Jane giggled and made a theatrical gesture. "Why do women say that all the time?"
"Because I left my room in a hurry and you dragged me into your place after closing my door before I could grab my keycard." Maura explained. Once more not getting the joke.
Jane poked her head through the bathroom door. Toothbrush in hand and foam on her lips.
"Excuse me? I dragged you? Sounds as if I abducted you." She smirked to tease Maura.
But the blonde surprised her by teasing back. "Yes. Sounds about right detective."
Both began to giggle. As much as Jane had felt disturbed in her privacy earlier on, as much did she love their morning banter now. It occurred to her that she had never had that with Gabriel and smirked.
When she walked back into the room, wiping her mouth with a towel, she found Maura in front of her duffle bag.
"Want me to borrow you some clothes?" Jane asked and flashed her dimples. The blonde shrugged. "Please, if you could?"
"Sure." Jane walked over to show Maura what she had. The blonde didn't comment on the fact that most of the clothes were bearing a mans cut. Jane couldn't help, but she just felt comfortable in them. Maybe she was stereotyping herself when thinking that it was because she was gay.
R&I
"You really had a snake in your room?" The old man who was sitting across from Jane and Maura asked. His face was full of excitement. Jane who just cut into her roll gave him a silencing look. But he ignored her and focused on Maura who nodded.
Soon the whole table was talking about Mambas and other dangerous animals. Now Jane knew why she preferred to have breakfast alone.
One hour later Maura and she stepped out of the hotel to climb one of the waiting jeeps. Despite having gotten her keycard back, Maura had stayed with Jane in Janes room until it was time to go. "Good thing that we have the same phones, and you could use my phone charger." Jane commented while Maura took pictures while google mouthing her.
"Good thing, that you had some clothes which fit. And that the hotel has guest toothbrushes." Maura smiled.
Jane laughed and tilted her head. It got harder for Jane to understand why people wouldn't like this person. With every day that passed Jane got fonder of the blonde.
During lunch break a group of travelers stood around Maura who google mouthed them. Jane stood a bit afar and watched in awe how people followed her words. It didn't escape her thought how the tour guide also watched the blonde with a mischievous look on his face.
The brunette tried to figure out who could have put the snake into Maura's bed and watched each person carefully.
As everybody was busy with listening, Jane decided to walk off alone again to use the toilet. The ride on the jeep always rattled her bladder and so she walked towards some bushes. When she pulled them apart, she saw the huge snake again.
"Gotcha!" she exclaimed and pulled out her phone to take a picture to proof Maura that she wasn't crazy. But unfortunately, her battery had died and she grunted. Maybe lending her charger to the doc hadn't been such a good idea after all.
After finding some animal free bushes she strolled back to the group. "Where have you been?" Maura asked her. Her voice a mixture of anger and fear. "You were busy, so…" Jane shrugged but gave her a calming smile.
"Guess what? I saw the monster snake again!" she continued triumphantly.
"Stop teasing me with that snake." Maura laughed obviously believing that this was one of Janes jokes again. "Noooo, I swear. I'm not joking this time. She's huge and she really exists."
Maura tilted her head. "It's the sun. It drives people mad. I actually read a story about…"
They got interrupted by the tour guide who stated that there is a legend about the giant snake. Jane saw by Maura's facial expressions what she thought about legends and giggled. The tour guide wasn't happy with the reaction and left them.