Thank you to Sanjana. Your kindness is unfounded and so appreciated. I can not even tell you how much you mean to me. How much you make me believe in myself. I CAN NOT WITH YOUR PERFECTION. OKAY? *ahem*
This is based on something that happened to my husband and me a few years ago.
Her feet are so cold that it's painful. It seems to shoot up through the rest of her body. She supposes it was a good sign that she was still feeling. The damage couldn't be too bad. With a wince, she pulls off her socks as the tub fills with warm water. Slowly, she lowers her feet down.
"Cindy?" Jimmy hesitantly asks, "are you okay?"
"Better now," she answers.
"I am sorry about the heating element in the hovercar. I swear I checked it before we left," Jimmy says as he sits next to her. With a wince of his own, he puts his feet into the water too.
"I'm sorry about losing my temper with that poor hotel clerk," she sighs.
"I apologized for you," he says.
"I'm also sorry about what I said to you."
"When you called me an irresponsible cad?"
"Yeah."
"It wasn't exactly unfounded. I admit that sometimes, I don't think things through the way I should. But I swear, there was no indication that something was wrong."
"I believe you."
"Thank you, Cindy," he says.
He moves his hand on the edge of the tub so that his pinky touches hers. When she doesn't pull away, he moves even closer so that their shoulders are brushing. He's warm and familiar against her. It's strangely sweet, this moment. "This will make quite a story, huh?"
He laughs but nods, "It will. Sorry about that."
"Being with you is an adventure," she turns to him with a small smile, "but I don't always hate it."
He smiles back at her, then leans over to kiss her. The warmth from his mouth trickles down her spine into her toes. It helps to chase away the last remnants of the cold. She pulls away first, resting her forehead against his.
"I'm feeling a little less cold now."
"I'm that good, huh?" he teases.
She laughs, and the sound echoes in the small hotel bathroom. "I will not flatter your ego."
He kisses her again. This one is more passionate, and his fingers thread through her hair. Her breath is heavy when he pulls away, and her heartbeat is loud in her ears.
After a moment, Jimmy shakes his head, "Oh, shoot, I just remembered that I made us some hot cocoa."
"Well, a lot of good it's going to do us now."
"What can I say? You can be very distracting, Vortex," at his words, her insides turn slightly gelatinous.
"Well, perhaps I'll forgive you then."
He kisses her nose and, with a smile, pulls his feet back out of the tub. "Don't spend too much longer in here. There's a documentary on Albert Einstein tonight, and we don't want to miss it."
She laughs again as she watches him go. This night might not yet be a total loss. As she drains the water in the tub, she resolves to get her revenge in the form of her feet on Neutron's nice warm calves.
-x-