"Did you just moan?" Jane asked, smirking.
Maura, mouth full of jalapeno popper, was glad she could blame her reddening cheeks on the heat.
She swallowed. "I forgot how much I liked those," she said.
"If nothing else, at least I can remind you how to eat," Jane said, taking another slice of pizza.
"I didn't completely forget," Maura said. "If I show you something, do you promise not to judge?"
"I make no promises whatsoever, but please show me anyway," Jane said, wiping grease off her chin with a napkin.
They were eating at the kitchen counter, and Maura moved behind it towards the built in freezer.
"Maur, full disclosure, if there's body parts in there I will have to arrest you. I'll visit you in prison, though."
"You used to say you'd break me out!"
"What can I say? I've matured in my respect for the law."
Maura took great offence at this. "What if I was innocent?"
Jane shook her head. "Sorry. Jailbreaks require romance."
"Are you seriously saying that you'd only break me out of jail if we were sleeping together?"
"Hey, this isn't about sex. It's about love, commitment. I've got to think about my future. If I go on the lam with you, I'm hardly gonna have the chance to meet anyone else, am I?"
"Breaking me out of jail might rekindle the flame," Maura said with a wink.
"Okay, now I sort of want to arrest you!" Jane exclaimed. "Because you're annoying," she clarified. "Now show me what's in your damn freezer."
"I fear this may be rather anticlimactic after all the talk of body parts," Maura said, "but, voila."
She opened the freezer to reveal at least six tubs of ice cream. Full fat ice cream with real sugar, which Maura had tried for the first time at Jane's insistence.
"You told me that soya, sugar free crap was just as good!"
"I said I was satisfied with it," Maura defended. "I was very careful not to lie."
Jane got up to examine the ice cream more closely. "You have a way better stash than I do. Does your Mom know you're such an ice cream fiend?"
Maura shook her head. "No. I did convince her to try some, my first summer here. But she wouldn't have a waffle cone, and she didn't finish the single scoop tub."
"It's things like that which make me glad you're adopted," Jane said. "Imagine having ice-cream-hating genes!"
"Having healthy tastes isn't exactly bad," Maura said, but she knew what Jane meant.
"That said, Rizzoli genes aren't much better. They seem to consist of over confidence, hyperactivity, and a tendency to get in over our heads. Oh, and we love carbs."
"Don't forget chess," Maura said. "You and your brothers all gave me a run for my money."
"Shit, I forgot about that. Losing a hundred bucks to Tommy on thanksgiving, the shame."
Maura bit her lip. "There's something I never told you about that," she said.
"Oh my God, are you finally going to admit you let him win?"
"You knew?"
"Of course I knew! He's good, but he's not that good. He was an idiot to put that money on the game."
"Did he know that I lost on purpose?"
"Nah, little shit was full of himself for two full days, til Frankie won it off him shooting three pointers in the driveway, then I won it off Frankie shooting pellets in the woods."
"You got my hundred dollars?"
Jane grinned. "You never bet on our games, I had to be creative."
"I never bet money," Maura pointed out.
BREAK
"See, you still have one more gift," Jane said, pointing under the tree.
They piled into Maura's apartment, laden with gift bags. After unwrapping themselves from coats, scarves, hats and boots, they switched on some cheesy Christmas radio and curled up on the couch. Maura had insisted that they wear the Christmas sweaters and pyjamas that Jane's mother had given them, so Jane sported a knitted blue number declaring 'Police Navidad', while Maura had a slightly more tasteful patterned red cardigan with 'Don't be tachy, I'm a doctor' embroidered on the back.
It had been Maura's first Rizzoli Christmas, and it had been wonderful. She was in excellent spirits, stuffed with turkey, and perhaps a little tipsy. Her eyes lit up at the mention of another present. She collected it, brought it back to the couch, and carefully opened either end.
"Jeez, would you just rip it, you're making me nervous," Jane complained.
Maura picked off the tape and folded open the paper. Inside was a wooden chequered box, very worn, with a golden clasp, and inside the box were thirty-two intricately carved pieces.
"It's beautiful," Maura said.
"It's a travel set," Jane explained. "I know you have the fancy glass one your Dad gave you, but I figured you could take this, you know, to picnics in the park, or on vacation and stuff."
"I love it," Maura said, leaning over to give Jane a kiss. "Thank you."
Maura ran her finger over the initials carved on the side. JR.
"It was yours?" she asked.
"Yup. Had it since I was a kid - this is the set I learned how to play with. See this dent," she pointed, "that's from when I threw it across the room the first time Tommy beat me. But, in my defence, turns out he cheated, so I was right to be mad."
Maura promised to take very good care of it.
"Wanna play?" Jane asked, eyes twinkling.
Maura was concerned. "No, Jane. You get so grumpy when you lose, and it's Christmas. I don't want you to be grumpy on Christmas."
"I'll be grumpier if you don't play."
Maura sighed. "Okay. But please hold on to the festive spirit."
"Of course! How much do you bet?"
"No, no bets."
"Okay, okay, no money… What about a different kind of bet?"
"I'm listening," Maura said.
Jane reached into one of the gift bags and produced a bottle of whisky.
"Alright," Maura said, "but why not raise the stakes even further?"
Jane raised her eyebrows. "A second ago you were saying no bets at all, now you wanna raise the stakes?"
"I didn't want to bet money. But I have no problem with betting other things. How about, take a piece, take a shot, lose a piece, lose a garment?"
"Wait, so I take one of your pieces, I get a shot, and you take your clothes off?"
Maura nodded.
"That would certainly make things interesting," Jane said, mentally reviewing how many layers she was wearing.
Maura set up the chess board, then went to fetch the shot glasses. "Black or white?" she asked.
Jane grinned. "Black. I don't need an extra advantage."
"So cocky."
"Always. What do I get when I win?"
Maura flicked her eyes up and down Jane's body. "I would have thought that was obvious."
Jane grinned. "Then you are going down, Isles."
Maura smiled devilishly. "Experience suggests that you, in fact, will be the one going down."
"Maura!" Jane feigned shock. "I was talking about the game."
Maura batted her eyelids innocently. "What makes you think I wasn't?"
"Experience," said Jane wryly. "I think I need a shot already."
BREAK
"I still don't think it's fair that you played for money with my brothers but never with me," Jane argued.
"I never bet money on our games because I didn't want to create a financial imbalance in our relationship."
"I think you never bet money on our games because you were afraid you'd lose," Jane taunted.
"I was thinking of a rather memorable Christmas-" Maura began.
"No, no, we agreed, that was a tie," Jane interrupted.
"We agreed nothing of the sort. The game was never finished, and I won the rematch."
"The rematch didn't count! The context was completely different. We both know I would have won that game if we'd finished it."
Maura was unsympathetic. "Then more fool you for missing that once in a lifetime opportunity."
"You didn't give me much of a choice!"
Maura blinked away images of whisky kisses and chess pieces tumbling to the floor. "I believe it was a mutual decision."
"I thought you were resigning," Jane maintained.
"I could say the same about you," Maura said. "But there's a way to settle this right now."
She took out her wallet and slid five twenty pound notes onto the counter.
"I'm raising the stakes - this is worth more than a hundred dollars," she said.
Jane wiped her hands, then matched the bet. "You are so on, Dr Isles."
Maura went to the bookcase and took out the chess set. Jane recognised it immediately.
"You brought it?" Jane said, her voice betraying more emotion than she'd intended.
Maura had, in fact, brought it to London in her carry-on luggage, just as she'd brought it on every journey she'd taken since receiving it, and just as she always planned to.
Jane ran her fingers over the initials carved on one side. JR + MI.
BREAK
"Hang on, I just thought of something," Jane said, dropping a kiss on Maura's forehead and rolling out of bed.
Maura, still struggling with sentence structure, mumbled something incoherent. Jane returned with three items - a glass of water for Maura, the chess set, and a kitchen knife, which significantly accelerated Maura's return to alertness.
Maura sat up. Jane passed her the water, then sat on the bed, naked and cross legged, holding the chess set. Tongue between her teeth, she set about attacking it with the knife.
"What on earth are you trying to do?" Maura asked.
Jane looked up. "Update the engraving, obviously."
Maura considered this. Jane resumed her attack. "Wait!" Maura said. "You're going to hurt yourself."
She opened the drawer of her nightstand and removed a scalpel.
Jane raised an eyebrow. "Is it weird that it doesn't even freak me out that you have that in there?"
"Not really. You keep a gun in yours," Maura reasoned. "Come here, let me show you how to hold it."
Jane moved next to her. Maura joined their hands, Jane's left in Maura's right, and helped Jane hold the scalpel. "Hold it tightly," she said softly, "but keep your wrist loose. It's sharp, you'll need less force than you think."
Jane finished adding '+', then began 'M'. Maura steadied the box for her.
"Your initials are easier than mine," Jane commented. "All straight lines."
"Straightest thing about me," Maura said.
Jane laughed. "You can say that again." She was still concentrating on the engraving. "There, now it's official."
"I'm truly honoured," Maura said. "Now give me the scalpel."
Jane held on to it. "I kind of like it. It makes me feel powerful."
"Let me put it away and you can do something else that makes you feel powerful."
Jane raised her eyebrows. "Again? You were on the verge of comatose ten minutes ago."
Maura grinned. "I have excellent cardiovascular health, leading to quick recovery time."
Jane handed over the scalpel. "I'm somewhere in between totally impressed, and determined to prove I can exhaust you," she said.
BREAK
"The straightest thing about you," Jane said with a chuckle. "Do you still keep a scalpel in your nightstand?"
Maura reached to touch the engraving herself. "Yes," she admitted. "What about you, what do you keep in yours now you can't have a gun?"
"I have a brick next to the bed," Jane confessed.
"A brick? Why a brick?"
Jane shrugged. "I don't like knives. I could get a police baton but I don't like them, you have to sort of shake them out and so I think they're kind of flimsy. I know where I am with a brick."
"I think I see your logic," said Maura, trying not to giggle, "but, I have so many questions. What kind of brick is it? Where did you get it? How did you get from not liking your police baton to having a self-defence brick?"
"It's just an ordinary brick, Maur. I'll show you if you like, and answer any more questions you may have. But right now, there are more important matters to attend to."
She opened the chess set. "Black or white?"
Maura picked black, and they set up the board.
"Last chance to back out," Maura said, tidying the stack of notes.
"I was going to say the same to you," Jane replied, narrowing her eyes. "Alright, men. Prepare yourselves for the battle of a lifetime."
Maura rolled her eyes. "They can't hear you."
"Don't listen to her," Jane said to her pieces. "We can use her disbelief to our advantage!"
BREAK
Notes:
I needed some fluff - can you tell? I'm really loving the comments, so thank you! They've kept me very motivated this week. And I haven't forgotten the murder mystery, honest…