Chapter 5
After what was a brilliant day and fulfilling sleep, Monique was awoken from her slumber and greeted with the knowledge that she was the first awake that bright morning. Ron was wiped out, slouched over the arm of the sofa with his mouth hanging open and Rufus curled up next to him. The Sun's rays, intruding through the gaps in the curtains, were slowly but surely approaching his closed eyes; no doubt he would wake soon whether he wanted to or not.
The same couldn't be said for the room's other two occupants who seemed quite the opposite. While Ron was slouched over, looking exhausted and shivering slightly from the almost-winter morning chill, Shen and Kim had content, peaceful looks gracing their faces and no doubt the warmth of each other's bodies was enough to fight the small chill.
Monique stayed in her seated position on the floor and watched the two curled up together on the sofa. One of Shen's arms was tightly wrapped around Kim's waist while the other held her close around the shoulders; joining their sides together. His head was leaning against hers which was slightly lower and content to be near his neck, while Kim's arms stopped Shen from moving away by holding him round the waist. The only part that could be seen as a barrier between the two consisted of Kim's knees and it was hardly a barrier at all. Her whole body was curled onto the sofa, so her knees were bent and angled towards/over Shen's legs, which had settled to make him appear as if seated normally; they were out in front of him with feet on the ground, they were slightly curved to Kim though, just like the rest of his body.
As she watched them for those few minutes, she couldn't help but think that they looked made for each other. Even their personalities seemed that way, as even though they clashed sometimes, what one person lacked the other one made up for. She only hoped that Ron could understand that. Only Kim was the one to not notice the supposed slight rivalry between the two males of the group. Men, she thought. Smiling, she quietly stood up, stretched, yawned and then walked through towards the kitchen where she heard movement.
"Oh, good morning Monique. I hope you slept well," Mrs.Dr.Possible greeted the teen as she dragged her feet behind her into the blinding sunlight of the kitchen, "I trust you like pancakes?"
"Thanks, I did and I sure do Mrs P." Monique replied as she seated herself at the table, rubbing at her eyes. They continued their polite conversation while the others slept and Kim's mum collected the ingredients for breakfast for when everyone was ready. The topic soon changed to what Mrs Possible really wanted to know.
"Who is the handsome young man in there Kim seems to have taken a liking to?" She asked, referring to the way they were cuddling each other and Shen hadn't been to Kim's house before.
"Err...well his name's Shen and he started school at Middleton this year...He became part of our group quite quickly," Monique answered, not quite sure what Kim's mum wanted to know.
"Are they usually so...affectionate towards each other?"
"No...well they're close and they've flirted -cough- shown interest in each other, but this is the first...erm...you know..."
Mrs Possible laughed and replied, "I understand Monique, don't worry. I guess I will be properly meeting him soon."
Back in the living room, the sunlight was gradually advancing towards the blonde man, but he was blissfully unaware of it. He was also unaware of the red headed room's occupant stirring as she noticed the mumbling of voices. Kim initially held whatever it was that was warm in her arms closer, until she remembered where she was and that it was probably Ron as she recalled leaning on him when she fell asleep, so she quickly pulled back and was surprised to see that it wasn't Ron. Oh my god, I slept with Shen! Okay, maybe that sounds a bit too melodramatic but still, this is embarrassing. At least he's not awake yet, I could just slip out of his arms and pretend it didn't happen...although it is quite nice...and he's very warm. Kim shook her head slightly and tried to remove herself from the raven haired man's embrace. It was useless though, she couldn't do it without waking him, but Kim was actually perfectly happy to settle back down into Shen.
She shortly fell into a light slumber, which Shen was thankful for. He had actually been awake and had found it hard not to laugh while Kim tried to decide what to do. Shego found this position comforting. She'd never really had a chance to get close to anybody in this way, as she was a villain and worked for Drakken. It was refreshing to find someone who wanted to stay in her arms, that person doesn't know who you really are though. It's all just fake. Maybe I should just forget the mission and tell her. She looked down upon Kim's resting face and brought her hand from Kim's waist to stroke the soft cheek lovingly. It made her grin warmly when a smile tugged at Kim's lips.
It was then that the Sun finally attacked Ron's eyes and he mumbled in his sleep, whilst lazily swatting at something. Shen quickly pretended to be asleep again but kept all attention on Ron.
"Wha?" he finally said as he sat up and stretched. Yawning, he absently looked to his left to glance around the room to see who else was around and saw Shen and Kim. Monique entered and a look of horror came across her as she waited for the reaction, "Hey Mo! What time i-..." and there it was. Ron's head spun back to where Shen and Kim were embracing and his jaw slacked while his eyes bulged, trying to work out if this was a nightmare. Quick off the mark, Monique ran the distance over to Ron, covered his mouth and dragged him through the kitchen and out the back door. Shen couldn't prevent the laugh that erupted out of him as he heard a muffled scream.
"Ron, just calm down. It's okay-" Monique tried to assure him but he hysterically interrupted.
"Okay? OKAY?! Are you kidding me?! That punk has his hands all over her!" Ron practically screeched. Monique rose an eyebrow, shaking her head thinking, punk? Ah whatever.
Ron continued his rant, well until Monique had heard quite enough and slapped him round the face with a mighty -thwack-. Ron was too shocked to even register the pain as he slowly turned his face back to meet Monique's glare and tentatively felt his cheek with his fingers, "you...you slapped me."
"Yes, yes I did!" Monique proclaimed, "and I'd do it again unless you get your act together! Look, just because they were sleeping closely," she chose her words carefully, although she wouldn't mind slapping him again, "doesn't mean there's anything affectionate about it. It was cold last night and this morning, so they probably just subconsciously noted that there was warmth when close to the other. Besides, she got pretty close to you too last night."
Ron sighed, sounding dysphoric, "Yeah, but she clearly likes him and with him there's no doubt. I've already...spoken to him. Did you know they were playing footsie under the table at BN yesterday? Well...Shen was anyway but I think Kim just didn't have time to respond as I pulled him away" he muttered the last two sentences absently as if more to himself.
Monique couldn't stand seeing him like this so she stepped forward and gave him a much needed tight hug. "Come on you. There'll be pancakes waiting by now." With that she steered him into the kitchen by the shoulder.
"Morning Ron." Kim greeted him cheerfully as him and Monique walked into the kitchen where Kim and Shen were now sitting at the table. The rest of the family soon joined and introductions of Shen were made to the new arrivals, having already been introduced my Kim to her mother.
Shen was digging into his stack of pancakes with maple syrup dripped on top, when he paused to scratch his chin and jaw line, his nails disturbing his stubble...- wait, what?! Stubble? Surely enough, Shen had grown a little facial hair around his mouth and along his jaw. "Great. Now I have to shave, I guess" he muttered to himself, not realising that Kim had actually heard him from her position next to him.
"Hmm, well I like it. Maybe you could shape it and have a goatee" she pointed out whilst smiling, obviously amused, but serious about the suggestion.
Shen pondered something for a second, whilst stroking his chin and then absent mindedly proclaimed, "I wonder what I'd look like with a full grown beard." This caused everyone to laugh as they imagined Shen, the age he currently is, with a long, bushy, black beard.
XXXXKPXXXX
"Why did you pull me out here Mo?" Kim asked as Monique had forced her into the living room, meaning she'd just left Shen in the kitchen to fend off her parents. Ron had left after breakfast, saying that his mum needed him to clean out the garage. It was true, but he was glad he had a real excuse to leave early.
"A little show-n-tell," she answered, smiling to herself. She quickly searched for the item of interest and found it slumped in the corner of the room.
"You can't go in Shen's bag!" Kim hurriedly stated in a low tone and Monique started going through Shen's things in the bag. Still, she quickly made her way over to her friend and knelt down beside her.
"Oh hush! You'll be happy to see what I'm going to- Ah ha! There you are," Monique had a triumphant look on her face as she opened up Shen's sketchbook. Shifting through all his class work and the failed attempts of his homework they both commented at the same time, "He's good."
Finally coming to what was being searched for, they both stared in awe at the last drawing in the book. Although Monique had seen some of it the night before, it had been dark and she hadn't seen him finish off. In fact, it wasn't finished, no where near, but still the basic sketch of the sleeping Kim was still incredible, "I saw Shen drawing this last night."
Kim wasn't really listening, but was enthralled with the art work. She could tell that it took a lot of skill and much care was obviously put into it. There was so much detail and the lighting, which came from the paused TV, caused deep shadows to play across her face.
Monique quickly closed the book and put it back in Shen's bag; being careful to put it just as it had been before, "Well...do you like him?"
"Erm," Kim looked at Monique, still a little dazed about the fact that Shen had put a lot of thought into drawing her when she was asleep, "Yes."
"Like-like or like-like?"
"Monique! Obviously I like him but that's not what we're talking about is it?"
"Alright Alright! So you like like him. Well that's good as he clearly likes you...are you going to tell him?"
Kim sighed and took a minute to think about it, "No, I think I'll just see how it goes for a little while. Besides, he knows I'm interested."
"Okay. I think you should tell him. I mean there's not really a risk is there? Anyway, I have to get going now. I'll see you tomorrow at school." Monique left after giving Kim a hug and Kim made her way back into the kitchen just in time to hear her dad asking, "What are your intentions with my Kimmie-cub?"
"DAD!"
XXXXKPXXXX
"Oh my god! I'm soooo sorry! That was so embarrassing!"
"It's no problem!" Shen assured Kim whilst laughing almost hysterically, "Don't worry about it. I actually found that very amusing...well as soon as you got me out of answering anyway!"
"...what were you going to answer?" Kim asked quietly as she sat down on her bed in her bedroom, where she had dragged Shen to, after getting away from her parents.
"Erm...I didn't really think about it..." he replied awkwardly. As he walked over to Kim's bed he noticed a stuffed toy and absently picked it up and sat next to Kim.
Kim's face went bright red as she explained that it's her Pandaroo and she can't sleep without it. Hmm...maybe this is what Drakken could use then, Shego thought,Should I take it? It's really quite sweet that she can't sleep without it...oh god, she's making me go soft!
Shego left shortly after this, still wondering whether she should keep going with the plan or not. Maybe someone would force an answer to that question.