Note: Took a while, been busy, and still not got to the bit I wanted to. There'll be more, hopefully lots more.
What the fucking hell? Jane stared at the ceiling above her. It wasn't her own. Memories of the night before seeped back into her consciousness. At which point did their mutually helpful acts transcend into lips touching lips? Jane's head hurt. She didn't go around kissing women, least not stunning women who clearly had a small fortune tucked away in some parental trust fund.
"Eggs?"
She jumped. The couch gave wave, and before she could respond, Jane ended up landing on the floor. She called out in pain and jumped back up.
"I apologise, you weren't fully awake," Maura said.
"I was awake," Jane muttered, rubbing the base of her spine.
"Are you okay? Did you damage your coccyx?"
"My what?" Jane stared blankly. She didn't know how they'd even managed to converse the night before, given how properly Maura spoke.
She smiled. "The tail bone. It is especially fragile at times. I've only bruised it myself but I understand breaking it is even worse."
"I think I'll be fine," Jane said, picking up the blanket and folding it over a couple of times. She frowned. It looked nothing like the neat pile Maura handed her the night before. She unfolded it and tried again.
"Leave it, it's fine," Maura said.
She wasn't convinced. The apartment was even more immaculate in daylight than it had appeared the previous night. She ran a hand through her mane, which she expected appeared more like a lion's than a human's, as it so often did in the morning. Maura seemed unfazed and spooned eggs onto a plate.
"I've prepared a fresh pot of coffee," she said, holding up a coffee jug.
Jane stared at her. If she'd had an impromptu houseguest the night before she would not have had a blanket to spare - something she was keen to rectify - and she certainly wouldn't have fancy coffee either. She nodded and Maura poured her a cup.
"Fucking," Jane said, swallowing a mouthful of the hot liquid. Maura's eyes opened wider. "Shit. Sorry for swearing. Sorry for saying shit."
"It's quite alright," Maura said. "I've heard it all before. Is the coffee too hot? I could get you some milk."
"Milk?" Jane scoffed. "I don't think this shit - sorry, stuff - needs milk. It's like luxurious coffee."
"It's the Sumatra blend, it's my favourite."
"Really?" She lifted the mug to her lips and took another sip, savouring the moment briefly. "My favourite is the cheapest."
"Beans or ground?"
Narrowing her eyes, Jane glanced over her mug and off into the distance of the apartment. She turned her attention back to Maura with the slightly smirk. "Instant?"
"I'm not sure you can really consider yourself a coffee drinker."
She shrugged and took another sip. Sumatra coffee, whatever that was, was like nothing Jane had tasted before – in her recent memory, anyway – and anything she expected to taste again – unless she won the lotto. She expected the price tag to fit Maura, more than herself.
She stuck her fork into a piece of egg and scooped it into her mouth. Chewing, she banged her fist on the table, warranting another puzzled look from her host.
"What did you put in these eggs?" she asked the second she'd swallowed. Ordinarily she'd have started talking before swallowing, but she didn't want to appear rude.
"Seasoning," Maura said, raising an eyebrow. "Are you not accustomed to properly seasoned eggs?"
"Nah." Jane forked more into her mouth and chewed, breaking her very brief rule to not talk with her mouth full. "Mine come out all rubbery."
"Cook them slower and on a lower temperature, drag the eggs instead of stirring, and don't forget to add herbs."
"Herbs, which ones are those?"
Maura raised an eyebrow as she sat down and ate her own breakfast. She looked puzzled. There was something in the confusion on her face that made Jane want to laugh, but she refocused in eating instead.
"I don't do much cooking," Jane said. "I'm one of those people who could burn water if left unattended."
"Water is likely to burn if left unattended."
"No, I meant me."
"Oh." Maura swallowed her mouthful and placed her fork down on the edge of the plate. "I called a locksmith, one should be here by the time you've finished eating."
"You didn't need to do that," Jane said. "I'd have called them."
"I wake early, it made sense to contact them before they started any other jobs, and since you were awake more than once in the night I didn't want to wake you."
Jane shrugged. "I have to get up for work at all hours."
"That may be so, but you looked like you were still in your R.E.M. Cycle."
"Anyway, thanks," Jane said, motioning to the breakfast and the makeshift bed on the couch. "For everything."
"It was my pleasure."
She stood up and moved toward the apartment door, Maura followed her across the room. "I'll go wait outside my apartment."
"You don't need to," Maura said. "I informed the locksmith that you would be here."
"Really," Jane said, frowning. "I've already troubled you far too much."
"Wait, don't forget your gun."
Maura picked it up off the coffee table and carried it over to her. Jane stared at it for a moment, like it was an alien concept designed only to confuse her. She slipped a finger around the handle and turned it over in her hands. "I'm not sure the locksmith will appreciate me taking a gun to his workplace."
"You can leave it here if you'd prefer."
"When do you have to leave?"
"Not for a few hours, I'm not in work today."
"So," Jane smiled. "I could come back in say an hour and you'll still be here?"
"I'll let you know if I need to go out before then."
"Great, thanks Maura," Jane said, tugging open the door and heading out into the hallway.
The door closed behind her and within seconds Maura's usual classical music routine commenced. Jane rolled her eyes and headed towards her apartment. Pushing against the door, she forgot momentarily that she was ever locked out. She grimaced and turned around. The hallway was much lighter now the sun had risen and much colder than Jane had remembered.
x
Meeting people, in Maura's line of work, was next to impossible. In theory, she met people every day; police officers, detectives, the deceased. But she didn't "meet" people. She wished, above all else, when she started her new job at the police department, that she could meet people via a more organic source than the ritualistic mating-style events her parents had encouraged her to be involved in. Charity functions and galas were an opportunity to show off how much money you possessed in order to secure relationships with people with an equal standing in the community, in both reputation and monetary sense. The acquaintances she'd made were important, but none were suitable for her sexual or emotional needs.
After ending her relationship with an heir to his family fortune, after college, Maura knew her reputation based dating pool was no longer sufficient for her needs.
The woman she'd met shortly before the end of her relationship with Garret Fairfield played some part in that decision, and she was keen to move forward with her desire to test the waters with female companions.
Perhaps that was the very reason why she stood at her door, staring through the tiny eyepiece at the woman across the hall. That wasn't to say that her new neighbour, Jane, was a suitable significant other, but Maura wasn't against exploring how they fit in a sexual capacity. After all, it had been months since her last encounter and she was feeling particularly dejected at the moment.
The night before she tested the waters, only briefly. Not only because she felt instantly comfortable with Jane, but despite her somewhat disheveled clothing, she found her attractive.
Jane walked across the hallway towards Maura's door. She jumped back, covering her hand with her mouth to disguise the squeal that escaped. She stepped back up to the eyepiece to double check that Jane had, in fact, returned to her door. Instead, she paced back and forth, stopping for a second in front of Maura, her hand outstretched as though about to knock.
She chewed on her bottom lip. There was a very real possibility that Jane was merely cold. Her shorts were barely suitable for summer sleeping, let alone the cool fall temperatures. Having to stand out in the drafty hallway probably made it all the colder.
"You're still out here," she said, opening the door and leaning back against the frame, her arms folded across her chest.
Jane spun around, her eyebrows creased together. "Sure they won't be long."
"Probably not."
"You going out?"
"No." Maura realised how out of the blue her appearance in the doorway had been. She picked up a pile of magazines she hadn't quite finished with and carried them over to the garbage chute on the wall. "I was doing a spot of tidying."
"You read a lot of fashion magazines," Jane said, her brow furrowed further.
She didn't know how to respond to that. Given what Jane was wearing, she clearly wasn't interested in fashion, designer or not. Maura shrugged. "These are old."
"Right." Jane spun around, absentmindedly moving about the small space. She wrapped her arms tightly around her shoulders.
"Are you cold?"
"No." She stopped, still frowning.
"If you are, you can come back inside, or borrow a sweater."
Jane scoffed. "A sweater that costs more than everything I own."
"I doubt that to be true."
"Including my car."
"Did you not purchase your apartment?"
"Not including the apartment."
"I have ample option, in a variety of colours."
She held a hand out in protest. "I'm good, thanks."
Maura returned to her apartment and mourned the loss of her latest edition of Vogue. She'd have to pick up another copy next time she went out. She finished clearing the breakfast plates up and proceeded to do some actual tidying, starting with the blanket Jane had used the night before.
By the time she was ready to go out, Jane had vanished from the hallway. Maura slipped on a light jacket and headed out of her apartment. She walked down the first flight, where she found Jane coming back up, still wearing her nightwear.
"They're still not here?"
"You know what they're like," Jane said, shrugging. She jogged up and down the top step repeatedly.
Maura shook her head. "You're cold."
"I'll be fine, just gotta keep moving."
"You're running up stairs with no shoes on."
"So?"
"Whilst it's actually better for your feet to not be confined to footwear, I'm concerned that inexperience of bare feet life will result in injury."
Jane rolled her eyes and stopped moving on the step below. "Is there anything you don't know?"
"Plenty."
"Like?"
"How anyone could possibly find Homer Simpson funny."
"Seriously?" Jane laughed, too loud for such a quiet space. She jogged up and down a couple more times. "Sorry. That was rude."
"Apology accepted. I have five minutes before I absolutely must leave," Maura said. "I can let you into my apartment and leave you with the key, that way if there's much more of a delay at least you'll have somewhere comfortable to wait."
"But you don't know me," Jane said, stepping up and down again. "I could be a psycho killer."
"Unlikely given the fact you had ample opportunity to attack me last night, and you'd probably be able to get away with it."
Narrowing her eyes, Jane stepped up and stared at Maura. "How do you figure that?"
"I live alone. Nobody tends to come up to the third floor on account of the fact there's no fourth floor. Any DNA evidence, such as hairs, or bodily fluids, could be explained away by a fictional friendship between us. Since I don't know many people, outside of a certain circle, and considering your position as an upstanding member of the community." Jane scoffed and jumped back down a step. Maura glared at her. "Nobody would suspect you of lying, or of committing such a heinous crime."
Jane returned to the hallway beside Maura. "Are you sure you're a medical examiner and not a detective?"
"There's an MD after my name for a reason."
"Impressive," Jane said, raising her eyebrows and tilting her head. Maura smiled and made the return journey back up the staircase, Jane following close behind. "You don't need to show me to your door."
"I need to pick up another set of keys, that way if you do leave the apartment building, I won't be locked out of my home."
They slowed at the door. Jane clicked her tongue. "Unlikely, you've got a spare in your safety deposit box."
She unlocked the door and reached into the entranceway for her spare set. She handed it to Jane and motioned for her to re-enter the apartment.
"The refrigerator is full, you can help yourself. All I ask is that you don't drink my wine. I have basic cable and a shelf full of board games, most of which will be useless to you, but there is a pack of cards if you know Solitaire."
"I'll be fine," Jane said. "Thanks, neighbour."
Maura nodded her head and reached out her hand, running it slowly along Jane's wrist. "I'll see you later."
x
The skin on Jane's wrist tingled, at least she thought it did. It was probably a figment of her imagination. She still didn't quite know where Maura's kiss to her mouth had come from. They hadn't exactly been flirting with each other.
Kissing Maura back probably wasn't the smartest move, if Jane wasn't intending for them to start something. The impulse to do so came out of nowhere and before she could quite grasp why, the moment had gone and she was left alone to sleep.
"Sixty-one Chateau Latour," Jane said, reading the label on a bottle of wine. She could see why Maura warned her off them. The price of wine was not something Jane had much knowledge of, but she anticipated it would probably be more than she cared to imagine.
In the fridge, she found an already opened bottle of Chardonnay, which she took of swig of before replacing it in the doorway. She spat it out in the sink a moment later.
"Why would you spend money on that?"
She walked through the apartment, looking at everything she could see, from Maura's unusual collection of medical books to a strange, wooden figurine on a cabinet by the bedroom. She stepped towards Maura's room. Cautious. Despite knowing Maura wouldn't be back for a while, she still felt unsure about exploring her home. Being allowed access to someone's apartment didn't mean it was okay to go snooping around their bedroom.
The large painting over Maura's bed quickly took away all ounce of worry over entering her bedroom. A woman, naked, lay across the painting, her pink nipples stood out and her lips plump. Her breasts were large, a little larger than Jane cared for, if she thought about it. She tilted her head to the side and stood at the foot of Maura's bed, clutching the frame. The woman was vaguely attractive, though she looked like she belonged in an art gallery and not a bedroom. A small strip of hair covered her pubic area.
On the wall beside her, two photographs hung side by side. Black and white. The first was a close up of a woman's breast, the other of a woman's back. She walked closer and stared at the gentle wave of hair hanging loose around the woman's shoulders.
"Maura?" She reached up to the glass, then thought better of it; being a medical examiner who seemed to have superior knowledge of all things to do with a crime scene, she could very easily do a sweep of the room and find her smudged finger marks on the glass. She picked up a sweater from the clothes basket and wiped down the end of the bedframe and the doorknob.
She stepped back and stared at the photos again. The breast was much smaller than the one in the painting, the nipple relatively small and erect. Jane shuddered, her whole body reacted to the very thought of the body in the photos belonging to Maura.
To deny her own attraction to the woman would be as bad as denying her own sexuality, which she'd struggled with for some time. Feelings were all well and good, but until she had something concrete, such as a partner, to 'take home' she didn't want to open up that can of worms with her parents.
She swallowed and breathed deeply, her chest ached from the lack of intake of breath. She grabbed the sweater again and pulled open the top drawer of the dresser, pulling neat piles forward as she searched the backs.
When her hand hit the long, cylindrical, malleable object, Jane grinned. Everyone kept their secrets in the same location, without fail. She lifted it out and stared at it. It was large, about seven or eight inches long, and had a girth wider than Jane anticipated. Maura wasn't a tiny woman, but she was not large either.
She continued her search in the back of her drawers, pulling out several other sexual items, including a harness and strap-on device. The signs that Maura could be interested in her in the way she suspected she might be were adding up. She hadn't met many women who kept strap-ons for sex with their boyfriends. Not that she had many female friends to judge off of.
"Not now," Jane muttered, chewing the inside of her cheek. She felt the pulsation in her shorts, and she wondered how long before she'd need to change them. She squeezed the sexual devices as she returned them to their rightful place, holding a little longer onto the dildo. She closed her eyes briefly and pictured Maura thrusting it into her own body. "This really isn't the time."
She groaned and threw it back into its location, before turning it around. Maura was meticulous and would no doubt know if it had moved even an inch.
The doorbell rang. Jane picked up the sweater she'd used to disguise her snooping and stuffed an arm into one of the holes. The lilac didn't go with her shorts, and she didn't really like how it looked, but despite her arousal, had barely warmed up.
"Saved by the bell."