For some reason, she often wakes up before his alarm goes off. Quarter to 5 in bright red neon lights on the nightstand at his side of bed. Couldn't help but scoff when she turns on the lamp beside her and sees his apartment. His place is a mess like usual, though that has never been a hindrance whenever they fool around, it doesn't mean that she would tolerate him only cleaning his place wherever she reminds him. She reaches for the dangling navy blue t-shirt on the headboard. It will have to do until he wakes up and they decide to take a shower together before going separate ways. He's lucky she feels like joining him in the bathroom today unlike other days when she would just leave in the middle of the night.
The newspaper on the floor catches her attention. Not that she's interested in yesterday's news but a quick puzzle game sounds good to stimulate her brain cells. Remembering the half worn out pencil in the drawer of the nightstand, she switches the lamp on and her memory from a few months ago serves her correctly, the pencil is still there. Just goes to prove how he barely uses things in his own place. Sometimes, just to test her theory, she wants to purposely leave her panties on his couch or bathroom sink then check the following month if it's still there. She picks up the newspaper and she starts answering the crossword puzzle.
After a few minutes, she is almost halfway done with the puzzle so she takes a quick break and glances at the man sleeping beside her. He has always looked so angelic, even when he is angry and damn she has seen him angry one too many times. She wonders if most of the time it was because of her or at her. She brushes the thoughts aside as she stretches her arms up then resumes playing.
"7 letter word" She softly mumbles while twisting the pencil around her fingers.
"Pancake"
She exhales through her nose and darts her sight to her right. There he is, on his belly with his eyes still half closed.
"Second letter is "A", a prominent weapon in middle Europe centuries ago."
"Pancake?"
She scoffs and shakes her head in amusement, the side of her lips curling into a small smile. People at his work would get their underwear wet just by his smile, his charm, his charisma. How magnetic he is. But they would never have this. Despite the years that passed, there is still that innocent and goody two shoes boy that she met in Raccoon City. Sure he grew up to be this mindful, vigilant and some would say aloof man but these are the sides of him they would rarely witness. Sometimes she would like to believe that this version, this devil may care attitude of his is just reserved for her.
He doesn't need to look at the clock to know what time it is. If she is awake, it was probably his alarm that woke her up. He lifts up his hand and trails it on the fiber of the t-shirt she is wearing, lightly poking the side of her waist. It's no surprise that there was no reaction from her, she has never been a ticklish person. Maybe on the sole of her feet for she ended up kicking his ear once when he held it in the wrong way one night. But anywhere else? None. His hands, as well as his mouth, have touched every single inch of her body to know that. He sits up on the bed and kisses the side of her face.
"No, hun. Stop. I'm trying to solve the rest." She holds up her finger in front of him but he playfully bites it. She yelps then grips his jaw while giving him a stern look. "Behave. I just need to finish this."
"Yes, ma'am." He makes her sit in between his legs so that he could at least hug her from behind. "Let me just . . sit properly" Thankfully she didn't protest or get annoyed. He is already lucky that she stayed beside him until he woke up. And now he gets to cuddle with her until she finishes a random crossword puzzle? What a day indeed. He may not get another day like this again. In fact, he rarely gets a day with her. Or even a night. And most nights would go by so fast no matter how many hours they would spend time together.
Complicated is an underrated term to describe their relationship and he just ran out of fucks to give how he would label it. All that matters for him is that he would want to keep what they have. He didn't want to push his luck but he had to try.
"Do you want breakfast?" He asks as he takes a whiff of her scent, his nose brushing on her neck. He sometimes wonders why she never changed her hair style, it has always been this short. Not that he is complaining, gives him easy access.
"No, just shower after this. Don't you have work?" Her eyes may be fixated on the paper but her mind is fully appreciating the touch of his soft lips on her skin.
He pauses and unlatches his mouth on her for a moment. "Yeah, but they won't mind if I'm late." Probably receive a note or something but nothing big. "So take your time" He resumes kissing her neck and feels her lean back on him.
"Halberd"
"What?" His eyebrows furrow.
"It was not "pancake", It's "halberd"" She puts aside the newspaper, smiling with pride and joy at being able to solve it within a few minutes. Though she may not know if she has beaten her personal record, it feels satisfying to solve it even with some pleasurable distractions.
She catches his lips with hers. Aside from the t-shirt she borrowed, they are already naked under the covers, so might as well fool around for a few more minutes before taking a shower.