"Are you sure you're up for this today?" Gilbert quips, Anne trailing behind him with her notebook as they head towards the intake area. Though she'd tried to put it off to be the last stop on her pass, today was the day she had to shadow Gilbert and the out-patient team.
And after their exchange yesterday, before and during the game, she didn't feel quite like she was able to be the neutral observer she was paid to be. Already this morning as he gifted her a sweetened oatmeal she found herself smiling at him, reaching out and grazing her fingers against him as much as he did her. If she were an outside party she would probably feel nauseous at the quiet affection they shared, hidden beneath a layer of protectiveness at keeping the team in the dark about their behaviour.
"I'm sure. I'm totally over that hangry stage by now," she jokes as they step into the treatment area. Gilbert flashes her a wide smile as he holds the tent flap open for her, leading her over to her seat and then looking around him quickly.
"Okay - I would like to ask you, because I know telling you won't be sufficient, to stay on that stool unless I need you to move. Can you do that?" He asks abruptly, pulling on his medical coat and looking over at her.
"Why? It's not like I'm going to come over and try to treat your patient for you," she chides, easing onto the stool as he rolls his eyes.
"Of course not. It's more because I need to focus and with you hovering near me that will be a particular challenge and - "
"Good morning!" Pasha greets, the local staff member stepping into the tent and looking between them. "Welcome Anne to our little piece of heaven!" Anne smiles back at the man, nodding as he claps his hands together excitedly. "Doctor Blythe - shall we get started? I hear there's a lineup."
The morning passes quickly, patient after patient coming through the tent and being released or moved into the waiting ward beds for further care. All the while Anne watches and takes notes, commenting in between cases on little things that Gilbert and Pasha observe and trying to better understand the process. When lunch rolls around they take a break and wander towards the kitchen, discussing the patients and trying to troubleshoot some of the maladies that have presented already today.
"What do you think so far?" Gilbert asks Anne as he settles in to eat his lunch of rice and chicken. Beside him Anne nibbles at a Powerbar, much to his consternation.
"I think it's interesting - it's very different from how it is back home," she offers and glances up towards him.
"So when do I get to read the notes?" He questions, setting down his fork. With a lightning fast move he grabs the remaining Powerbar from her hand and slides his plate towards her, tsking as she reaches for the processed food. "Have some of this. It's good and I promise you won't get sick from it."
Glaring at him Anne lifts the fork to her mouth and works her way through the remainder of the dish, cursing him for actually being useful in the kitchen and not letting her get away with the trashcan raccoon diet she was trying to cling to on mission.
"Not for a while yet. It's just notes and mostly scribbles right now but I'll try to go easy on you in the final version," she adds with a grin before getting up and washing the dish in the sink. He comes to join her, despite not having dishes of his own, and rests his hand on the small of her back for a moment. It's only a brief touch but it snakes up her spine and makes her skin flush brighter in the permeating heat of the day.
"You wanna hangout tonight? After dinner?" He asks lowly, glancing down at her. She shifts on her feet, uncertain of what he's actually asking but knowing she would agree, regardless of whatever he was implying.
"Your tent or mine?" She breathes in response and he stills beside her, his brows lifting in silent surprise. Oh, so that wasn't what he meant.
"Well, I - "
"Gilbert, we're having a rousing game of Monopoly tonight. You in?" Ruby calls across the kitchen as she heads passes by heading towards the smoking area.
"I'll have to take a raincheck," he replies to Ruby distractedly, his eyes never leaving Anne's. She stares back up at him, her tongue darting out to wet her lips as her heart races in her chest. He had that same look on his face that he did at the airport, the searching one she hadn't been able to pinpoint, and it makes her step back and put some distance between them.
"We should get back." She states and is relieved to see his nod, an unspoken agreement to think about her proposition hanging between them for the rest of the afternoon.
"So, I guess we both know what you were thinking," he mentions later as they walk together around the camp perimeter, a suggestion to burn off some of the energy of the day from being cooped up in their treatment area. His hand rests on her lower back as they move and she tries to ignore the burst of want that spills from her core at his touch.
"Probably the least subtle moment in my life, if I'm being honest," Anne replies shakily, glancing towards him and then looking at the ground again. He chuckles, tugging at the back of her shirt and bringing her to a stop beside him.
"It's not that I don't want to," he says after a moment, shifting on his feet as his fingers hold tightly to her thin cotton blouse. "It's just that I kinda want to actually get to know you and not just do the other thing," he adds sheepishly.
She lets his words hang in the air between them, heavy in their nature, as she tries to figure out how to respond. She wanted both. Why couldn't they have both?
"I can sense a million thoughts happening in that head of yours," he prods after a drawn out moment, crowding more fully into her space and trapping her against a shed wall. She looks up at him and lifts her hands gently to his chin.
"Why can't we multitask? I know you're good at - " She whispers and then is cut off by his lips, his whole body pressing hers into the wall. Her hands struggle to settle on just one part of him, tracing over his hips and his back and pulling him closer until she can barely breathe with the feel of him.
"Mmm, Anne-girl," he moans and stills, his thumbs on her jaw and holding her back from him as he breathes heavily. "I can't even barely think when you're around, let alone multitask."
"Then let's get it out of the way and we can focus," she counters, her own eyes closing as she groans pathetically. "God, don't judge me for sounding like all I want is your dick." His resulting sputter makes her laugh in return, her palm coming up to cover her face as she tries to hide in front of him. He only eases her hands away, settling a kiss upon her forehead before leading her away from the shed.
She follows him without question, his weaving path creating more confusion than she expected as he leads them towards the lounge and then turns abruptly to the left.
"Gil, where are you going?" She asks lowly, trying to catch up to him as he moves past the admin tents. In the distance she can hear the team playing their games and making a ruckus of it, their laughter filtering out through the thin structures as he turns once more.
Understanding blooms in her chest as they near the back of his tent, the full circle they'd done around the space making it obvious.
"Did you seriously just do a perimeter check?" She breathes as he reaches for the zipper of his tent. He lifts the flap and motions her into the space, her eyes opening wide in surprise at the amount of room he has.
He'd taken down the inner canvas and hung up his bug net, the tent widening almost three feet and brightening considerably with the change. Of course he would improve where he was going to spend a month, he wasn't a fish out of water here like she was. He belonged in this environment and she was just visiting. Kicking herself, she shoved the imposterous thoughts down and turned her attention back to him.
"I definitely did do a perimeter check because what I want to do to you requires that nobody be around to listen to us," he responds brightly, joining her in the enclosed space. "I should also mention that I, uh, have a clean bill of health in all ways - I was tested most recently before I deployed and it came up clear."
Her throat tightens as she glances up at him, her mind trying to find the right words. "I haven't - not lately, but last time, I was clear too. It's been awhile but unless there's witchcraft at play I'm still okay and I've got that whole cyborg thing happening - "
"Cyborg thing?" He prods, his smile widening as he steps closer to her.
"It's - I've got an IUD, so that's taken care of too," she adds and tries to distract herself by looking at his things.
"Then we're all covered. I can still use condoms, if you prefer," he murmurs as he stands behind her, the memory of him doing the same thing after her illness flashing brightly in her mind. All awkwardness about the conversation disappears as she shakes her head, glancing up at him and giving him her trust with just a look.
Without a word she gives in to his staged scene, lifting the corners of her shirt and pulling it over her head so that she's standing in front of him clad only in her pants and her sports bra. The heat of him surrounding her makes the gooseflesh rise on her skin.
"Anne," he sighs, a finger trailing up her spine and causing a sound to slip from her throat. His exhale chases the loose hairs from her neck and she shivers as his lips graze the top of her spine.
Standing frozen to the spot, Anne nearly comes out of her skin as he trails his lips along each nub of her spine, his fingers settling on the waistband of her pants and slowly easing them over her hips. She forces an exhale from her chest as he rises up and holds her close to his chest, his arms wrapping around her as a hand tilts her chin up towards him. His kiss makes her stumble, her mind losing all sense as she turns into him and pulls at his scrubs until he's leaning over her clad only in his boxerbriefs, his hair askew and his lips turned up in a knowing smile.
He had an effect on her, she knew it, he knew it, and there was no going back.
In the next moment he's reaching for her, steering her back towards his cot as his mouth moves from her ear to her collar. Her hands busy themselves by pushing his underwear to the floor, his length pressing firmly into her stomach as her hands squeeze playfully at his rear.
"You're playing with fire," he murmurs in between nips, his own fingers finding their way under her bra and pulling it forcefully over her head. As it comes loose she feels her hair go with it, the bun no longer holding up and the red locks falling down her back and causing him to exhale a shaky breath. "Jesus, you're a sight."
Smiling at that she eases herself onto the edge of the cot and presses her palm into his stomach, urging him to stay standing as her tongue darts out against his member. He nearly crumples over at the feel of her mouth closing over him, his hands slapping out at the storage unit and holding on to keep himself upright.
"Oh fuck," he hisses as her hands join in the ministrations, dragging the groan from him and revelling in the way his thighs shake at her touch. "I need - I need - " He repeats and she stills, looking up at him with her lips at the edge of his length.
He doesn't finish his sentence, his mouth finding hers in a demanding kiss that he uses to distract her as he falls to his knees. More at her level now he releases her, his hands yanking at her underwear and pulling it past her knees hastily. She chuckles as his lips return to hers, his hands squeezing her thighs lightly before pushing them open so he can get closer.
Dazed, delirious, Anne barely understands what he's doing as he dips his head between her knees and plants a kiss at the crux of her thighs. With a yelp and her fingers tangled in his curls she tries to hold it together as his tongue slips between her folds. She can almost manage to stay upright as his fingers slide into her in a knowing move. He's done this before, she's completely certain, as he curls his fingers inside her and makes her bones nearly leap out of her skin.
She rolls her hips and he answers by reaching for her chest, his hand cupping her breast as he continues licking into her. The orgasm strikes her like a wave, her body tensing and a soft moan escaping her lips as she rides the feeling out.
He barely gives her time to recover before he's urging her into his arms, away from the cot and onto his lap so he can trace his mouth along her clavicle. With shaking legs Anne lifts her hips and slides him inside of her, his quiet groan giving her the confidence to draw his lips to hers.
They barely move for those first few moments, joined together and content to explore each other with mouths and curious hands. When eventually Anne does start to move, her heat slicking over him and her hips in his hands, she does it with a pointed need, her body hurdling them towards the precipice as she nips at his earlobe, at his shoulder.
"I thought you didn't bite," he exclaims breathlessly, his hips rocking up to meet hers. She chuckles and replaces the bites with her lips, kissing a trail back to his mouth and moaning as his fingers come to where they're joined once more. "I'm so close, Anne," he admits, his movements becoming restrained as he fights off his release.
"I know," she rasps and revels in the feel of her nipples grazing the hair on his chest. The feeling makes her body tighten and she rests her forehead against his, closing her eyes as she recognizes the clench of his fingers, the small grunt that escapes him as he pushes into her and lets go. In a race to the finish she presses down and rocks into his hand, chasing her release until her whole body tightens and she comes, hard, against his solid frame.
The sound of rain hitting the roof of the tent is the first thing to come back to her waking mind, reality slowly creeping back in as she comes down from her high. When she does she's surprised to find Gilbert tracing soft kisses along her exposed skin, his long fingers splayed across her back possessively.
"Do you know how beautiful you are?" He whispers as his mouth drags up her neck and lands once more against hers. "When you fall apart you get this ethereal look and I convince myself that you're not from this world, you must be a faerie queen or some other being that's going to disappear if I blink. And it's not just how you look - your mind and all its twists and hooks - I don't know where you came from. I don't know what I did to find you. But goddammit Anne, I'm so fucking glad I did."
She half listens to his rambles, enjoying the way he breathes against her and the heat of him as they sit curled together on the tent floor. When she comes back to herself later she'll wonder what he's thinking as they sit naked on opposite ends of the cot, a deck of cards between them as his eyes light up at the sight of her winning. She'll smile up at him as he takes his own win with a kiss as payment, her heart hammering in her chest as that look re-appears on his face.
Only later when he kisses her goodnight before she sneaks back to her own tent under the cover of darkness will she remember his words and understand the blooming feeling of something indescribable in her chest. Only then will she look back at his tent with a smile on her face, her hand pressed to her lips as she recalls the way his words had felt on her skin.
