Extended Summary: Set during the beginning of the third season of The West Wing, Addy Blair and Toby Zeigler have been coworkers since season two. During the trip to Manchester, Toby acted on his feelings, and the two started a clandestine relationship mostly relegated to 'courting' thanks to ethical constraints and a string of articles claiming there's a secret romance being conducted in the White House.

This glimpse of them starts after Toby finds out about a story that will expose Addy as one half of the rumored pair, set to be published the next morning. Seeing that evening as their only chance to have private time together before things get even more complicated, he shows up unannounced to warn her about the story and steal away some much-valued private time together.

This is an elaboration from a 'fade to black' scene in Figures of Speech and can be read with minimal backstory as a Toby/OC smut oneshot. This is situated after chapter 19 in Figures of Speech.

Note: As originally posted, this scene is multiple chapters early for the chronology of Figures of Speech.

For readers of FoS, the event mentioned at the beginning (a leak identifying Addy as one half of the clandestine relationship at the White House) is both alluded to in that story's summary, and is an ongoing concern in the current chapter (14). However, besides skipping ahead in the relationship chronology, there's nothing in this fic that current readers or new readers will find spoilery for Figures of Speech. It's self-contained.

For new readers, Addy Blair is in her mid-thirties, with brown eyes and brown hair that reaches her shoulders. She wears an inch-thick chunk of her hair in a braid that stretches from her side part around the crown of her head, past her ear. Addy is a part of the speechwriting team, and has worked for the White House for about eleven months, at this point.

She and Toby have shared a few furtive kisses and heartfelt appreciation of each other, and there's a solid basis for a romance, but alone time is something they've never gotten without any strings attached. They're at Addy's apartment, late evening, seated on her couch.

Physical Eloquence

"There will be a lot of questions tomorrow. Everyone who went on that Manchester trip knows not to deny anything, but it won't help. People you don't know will second-guess your every move, and while most of them will be reporters, some of them will be your coworkers, and I can't-"

As she listened, Addy slipped her hand free of his and pressed it to his chest, above his heart. Once she made contact, Toby fell silent. "I know," she said. "It's okay."

"I wanted-" he started to say in the same unhappy, defensive tone, but stopped. "I wanted," he said again.

During the whole conversation on the couch, Toby had kept his eyes on her hand and then the floor, but now he lifted his gaze to hers. They stayed like that for many seconds, and as the tension intensified, so did his heartbeat.

Finally, he nodded down at his chest. "It's racing. I suppose I keep expecting Sam or Josh to come bursting in at any minute."

"That's not why mine is racing," she whispered, wishing she felt brave enough to explain herself with words. Ever since that kiss in New Hampshire she'd been caught in a loop of incredulity and delight, but as time passed, Addy had been forced to realize that this man that she respected so much saw her as a partner.

Someone he wanted in his life for more than their transitory jobs in the White House allowed.

"Oh?" he prompted, and she realized she'd fallen silent with no indication that her thoughts were positive.

"It's you," she said, sliding her hand free of their clasp and lifting his up. The well-worn collar of her shirt was wide enough that she slipped his whole hand past it to press his palm right over her heart.

"Addy-" he rumbled, and she moved her hand along his chest up to his neck and into the coarse curls of his hair, tugging him down to meet her in a searing kiss.

By necessity his hand in her shirt slid up to grip her shoulder, and her bra strap, always a slight shrug from falling, dropped down. Toby made a noise deep in his throat, and she moved to kiss him there, pulling her knees up underneath her. Her oversized shirt shifted with her movements, angling to reveal her upper arm. He suddenly stopped her with a warm caress, leaning back.

"This is an embarrassment of riches. I need to stop or I won't want to leave," Toby said hoarsely.

Addy sat back on her heels, feeling warm and confident. "Stay. I lease a parking space; early tomorrow morning I could take you in the back seat, drive to another underground complex and let you out. Margaret told me about that trick."

"Margaret?" he said, but Addy sprang to her feet.

"Except, one sec," she said, jogging to her bedroom to look in the closet. Having a staffer show up wearing the same clothes as the day before was a classic blunder, but if she was right, maybe one of her-

"Addy, what -?"

Toby was standing in her doorway, shaking his head.

"I went through a phase of loving men's white dress shirts, I was going to see if-" She broke off because he had come up behind her and kissed her bare shoulder.

"I keep a change of shirt and tie in the office. In a bout of blind optimism, I stuffed them in my bag before I left," he whispered in her ear. Addy swayed back, and Toby anchored her with a fist full of her skirt at her hip. He was warm and solid behind her, and she could have this, they could have this.

Turning in place to press herself against him, she said, "You really are the smartest person I know."

"Not smart enough to keep my hands to myself," he said with a smile that reached his eyes.

"What, you don't like being happy?" Addy said, bravely tracing a finger down the line of buttons under his tie. "Okay, that's not fair, I'll rephrase," she corrected herself, but Toby had started searching along her braid until he found the pins that held it up. His other hand left her hip and started tugging his tie knot back and forth, loosening it before taking her hand and resting it on the knot.

"What I like is symbolism," Toby said, his lips moving a little after the word as if the remnants of what was still unspoken between them were leaving their echo. Then he pulled a pin free of her braid.

It wasn't until he was on the third and last bobby pin that she realized he'd expected her to work on him at the same time, so caught up was she in the unhurried movements he was making. They were standing in her bedroom, but with his tie tied and her braid pinned up they were still coworkers in many ways, tied and pinned up by expectations. Addy's braid fell free and Toby started to unravel it, the backs of his fingers brushing against her cheek at times. She wasn't having as much luck with her task.

"I'm sorry, I have no experience with men's dresswear."

"That's fine, you can learn," he said patiently, showing her how to pull the wide part of the tie up through the knot, going through each part of the dismantling process until both halves were resting on his chest.

She was embarrassed. Past thirty-five and still ignorant of something that simple? Addy fixed her eyes on his buttons and said, "It's just that my father didn't want to give up any of those moments when my mom was sick, not even to teach me, and then after-"

He dipped his head down and interrupted her with a light kiss. "We bring all of ourselves to this, or we should," Toby said. "I'll admit that having you undo my tie was a common daydream."

"Right at the edges of intimacy," she mused. "I didn't let myself have many of those, but one was-" She gathered up her courage and lifted her hands to the top button of his dress shirt, sliding it loose. The second one was easier, though some of that was because she wasn't watching him watching her. "Symbolism again."

"Mm hmm."

Addy shivered, her hands pausing. She looked up and saw the barest hint of mischief in his expression. "You knew that would resonate against my hands, didn't you?"

Toby caught one of her hands and lifted it to kiss her wrist. "Mm hmm."

This gave her an idea, and Addy drifted closer, leaning over to set a kiss on the exposed white undershirt he wore, even as she continued unbuttoning him. It was another aspect of the stolen daydream she'd only let herself indulge in a few times. As she'd hoped, he took a big whiff of her hair, nuzzling her head with his nose. With his view of her progress hidden, all Toby could do was stand there breathing her in and feeling her movements. It was sensory deprivation and overload, all at once.

"I'm in trouble if you're that quick a study," Toby said. There was a note of deep longing in his tone, and she only had one button left. She lifted her hands and her head and looked at him with as straight a face as she could manage.

"It's very warm, are you warm?"

Addy pulled her shirt off over her head. Toby traced his gaze across her chest, making obvious note of how the heavy curve of her breast was revealed by the fallen strap's lack of support. She was really glad she'd worn her black lace set that day, even though there was no way in hell she could have predicted this.

"I should have realized that no one gets a job at the White House without at least some competitive spirit," he murmured, undoing the final button himself. Addy noticed him glancing warily over at the door to her bedroom, which stood open.

"Old habits die hard?" she asked lightly, walking over to shut it and adjust the lighting in the room. He took that opportunity to take off his shoes and socks, tucking them out of the way.

"That guy could still be looking for his pizza," Toby joked, referring to the apartment that buzzed him in. "No, I'm-" he let out a sigh and took off his shirt, draping it and his tie across the bench at the foot of her queen sized bed. "Private and repressed. Pre-furnished?" he asked, seeming to note the staid, ancient furniture of her bedroom for the first time.

"Yes. Don't look too closely and you won't see all the nicks and warps in everything."

"Good advice," Toby said, sliding his hands into his pants pockets and smiling wryly.

He looked so comfortable in his undershirt-and-barefoot vulnerability that Addy's affection for him grew too large to contain. She reached out to steady herself on the bedpost, looking forward to his reaction to what she was about to say.

"I'm not in love with the furniture, Toby," Addy said softly. He was at her side in seconds, one hand sweeping her up against him so tightly she was lifted off her feet, the other cradling the back of her head for a desperate, possessive kiss.

They started to topple, and Toby managed to angle them so that he was seated on the bed, with her legs tangled up in her long skirt on his lap. "How much fabric does one skirt need?" he complained. The two of them tried in vain to free her legs, and finally, he said, "Command decision."

Toby leaned over and tipped her off of him onto the bed, standing to rest one knee on the bed beside her. Addy scooted back and propped herself up on her elbows to look at him, but the intense wanting she saw on his face made the already-lit fire in her gut flare to bonfire intensity.

She threw herself back and arced an elbow over her face, groaning, "I am going to be a pile of ash in seconds!"

"Given how much of me is currently lava, I don't doubt it," he said. Addy felt more of his weight on the bed and started to lower her arm, but he stopped her with a light hand. "Wait. Just feel, okay? I, I'm… I- Let's say you don't have a monopoly on being self-conscious."

That had the opposite effect, because Addy dropped her arm to look up at him, finding that he'd taken off his undershirt. "Toby-"

He fell forward onto an elbow and framed her face with one large hand, swiping his thumb across to press it against her lips. "It's hard enough to concentrate when you're dressed in nothing but lace and five yards of filmy skirt, but those big brown eyes just about undo me. Give me a break, will you?"

He was wearing a thin gold chain that hung near the hollow of his throat, and she nodded, reaching up to slide her finger across where it lay against his skin. Toby let his eyes fall closed for a second, and then he leaned down and took her mouth, sliding his hand up and into the hair that was usually tucked away in a braid. The knowledge that they were alone, that they wanted each other, and that they had time to enjoy that was as drugging as the slide of his tongue against hers, and Addy gave herself over.

The kiss intensified as he dominated her, much different from their stolen moments. This was Toby taking what he wanted, trusting her to let him, and his hand moved from her hair down her arm and farther, pulling her skirt up with the rhythm of his tongue thrusts until it was all pooled at her hips and on her stomach. Addy was overcome, but there was no chance to worry or overthink as he slid his thick fingers past the waistband of her lace panties.

Toby let out a deep pleased sound when he finally cupped her. The kiss and the touch were too much at once, and Addy buried her face in the crook of his neck. The hand she'd had carding through his hair was now her only anchor to reality as she clutched his shoulder.

That was almost more intimate than kissing him as he delved his fingers against and inside her, because she felt the way his muscles bunched and released. As if testing her ability to stay conscious through such an onslaught of pleasure, he added a second movement of his thumb across her most sensitive area. Addy started shaking and panting, letting out a thin wail seconds later as she came, hips chasing his swirling fingers as they gentled her through the aftermath.

He pulled his hand free of her panties with a gentle caress and then collapsed onto his back beside her. All Addy could do was seek his other hand with hers, twining them together as they lay next to each other, breathing heavily.

"Imagine I said something clever about making you speechless?" Toby said, his voice a gravelly rumble.

"Insensate, is more like," she whispered. For all the times she pictured a moment like this, never knowing who it would be with, she never expected to feel this comfortable. That was the difference love made, she supposed. Addy sat up, reaching back to undo the clasps of her bra.

"Don't?" he said, and for the briefest of seconds her self-assurance crumbled until Toby reached out, dragging his fingers across the lace edging. "You are so beautiful," he whispered. "This is-" he smiled, self-deprecating again, and closed his eyes for a second. "I want to save that experience."

"Yes," she breathed. "Perfect idea." She braced her arm on the other side of him and leaned down to kiss him, more than a little shaken by how it felt to be positioned over him, able to see every nuance of his expression when she pulled back. "You know I'm winging this, right?" she whispered, biting her lip.

"I've always said you have superb instincts," he replied. "Can I suggest we reposition lengthwise?"

"Oh god," she groaned, throwing herself back off of him and laughing. "In my defense, I've forgotten most higher functions. Not enough to forget to tell you I'm on the pill, though. Is there etiquette for that? Am I gauche?" she asked, only half teasing. The books and movies she'd seen usually left that part out, but she knew it was important.

Toby stood, holding out a hand to help her up. "Any etiquette manual worth printing would say you should have slapped me for kissing you on a work trip."

"Good thing we tossed the whole thing, then," Addy said, settling herself on the bed with only a little qualm about how exposed she felt under his appreciative gaze. He was taking off the rest of his clothes, and she felt excited and intimidated by that, so she refocused on her feelings. There was so much she wanted to tell him, maybe earning another intense, possessive kiss. "It would call me foolish, falling for my boss, but Toby, I-"

"Addy," Toby interrupted, little lines beside his eyes crinkling with the soft smile he offered her. "Show me?" he asked, stretching out onto the bed beside her. The shy happiness in his eyes sobered to desire when she tugged him closer, and Addy realized he was doing exactly what he'd asked of her, showing her how he felt, how much she was wanted. That knowledge coursed through her like whiskey, arching her back and flushing her skin.

"Mmmm," she intoned when he pressed a kiss to the hollow of her neck, knowing he'd feel the resonance just as she had with his buttons. Addy slid her hand along the bare skin of his upper arm, a shiver going through her at the forbidden intimacy of what they were doing.

"What?" he asked, settling one leg across hers with a warm familiarity that sent another thrill through her.

She beckoned his head closer, lifting up to set her lips right by his ear, his right hand landing beside her left shoulder to support his weight. "This is really happening," she whispered, pressing her smile to his cheek. "Over the cliff?"

"Gladly," Toby said, looking down at her with so much affection in his eyes she almost felt unequal to the depth of his regard for her. The kiss that followed was liquid desire; slow, molten, and deliberate. As it went on, she felt more and more desperate to feel closer to him, shifting to pull him atop her and rubbing the side of his leg with hers. That drew a deep noise of approval, and his movements became more erratic. "Addy," he said urgently, and she knew what he was asking.

"Please," she breathed, tilting her hips instinctively.

"I wanted to be more gent-" he started to say, the words cutting off as he thrust, the intense pleasure marred a bit by the invasive newness of it. Almost immediately, Toby withdrew and thrust further, his eyes closed, his free hand catching her bent leg. The shift was exquisite, and Addy couldn't keep her eyes open either, caught up by how it felt, who he was to her, and the fact that they were doing this despite everything that was going on in their lives.

Suddenly, Toby leaned his full weight on her and moved his arm, settling himself on his elbow so he could touch her face. He kissed her, sloppy and imperfect, more about the connection than anything else, but oh, it was as if he'd flipped some kind of switch that made the pleasure five times more intense. Addy let out a hitched gasp, and he sped up, alternating intense kisses with breaks so they could breathe.

"Addy, you-" he groaned, and she bent her other leg, groaning at the way that brought him even deeper. "I-" he tried again, and she buried her hand in his hair, scraping her nails against the back of his neck.

"Yes, all of it, yes," she moaned, agreeing with his unspoken sentiment. At those words, Toby's hips snapped even faster, and he slid his hand along her leg up to her hip, aiding her as she sought to keep up.

"I should-" he muttered, but then groaned and sought her lips, kissing her with a desperation that sent her over into clenching pleasure. "Ahhh," he let out, and followed her with one powerful thrust, following that with successively less precise ones, before he dropped his head to the pillow beside her head and relaxed.

He was warm, his weight oddly comforting in those first moments afterwards, but Toby pulled himself up and off of her, his shaking hand making a valiant attempt at brushing her mussed hair away from her eyes. Addy tried to catch his hand with hers, but she felt boneless and dreamy, drunk on joy and affirmation.

Everything was too much, even the dim light of the lamp, and Addy draped her forearm over her eyes and decided it was okay to just exist for a few minutes.

She woke up to the gentle swipes of a warm washcloth.

"Thank you," she whispered. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she felt a push to feel embarrassed, but it was just too much work. "Can I -?"

"Already done, thank you," he said, leaning down to kiss her. He unbalanced and missed, and they both chuckled.

"I wonder if that etiquette book had a warning about operating simple objects after that kind of experience," she mumbled, feeling around for the easiest way to swap from being on top of her blanket to beneath it.

Toby set his knee beside her torso. "Roll toward me," he said. When she did, he pulled the comforter out from under her hips.

"You are the smartest man, and I'm the luckiest-" Her self-congratulatory statement was interrupted by a long, drawn-out yawn.

"Pretty sure you've got that backwards. Does your couch fold out?" His voice was distant, from the direction of the bathroom.

"Don't you dare!" Addy rolled herself imperfectly out of the bed and marched over to where Toby was drying his hands off. She grabbed one of them and hauled it over her shoulder, turning around so she could drag him back to the bed. The smell of her soap was somehow spicer on him, like the combination of her favorite scent and his Toby-ness had created something special and new, just for her.

"Addy, if you dislocate my shoulder, the press will have a field day."

"Better sleep with me and avoid that risk then," she said, stubbornly. For his sake, she let go, though. Since he'd woken her all the way up by almost being a stubborn ass, and she was standing by her bureau, Addy fished out a nightshirt, wrestled it on, and took off her bra from underneath it. She decided against brushing her teeth on the off chance that he would sneak out and make up a bed on her tiny couch.

When she was done putting her bra away, Addy saw that Toby was standing nervously on the other side of the bed.

"I don't want to rush you," he said seriously, looking sheepishly up at the ceiling and adding, "That's not quite true. But I want you to feel-"

"I feel respected. I'd feel more respected if you slept here with me, and that's not just because I might have mice, and their scratching can get really loud in the living room."

Toby rubbed his finger along the hair just over his ear and nodded. "Okay." She nodded too, climbing into the bed and watching him do the same as she waited with her hand near the off switch for her table lamp. Seconds after she clicked it off, Toby said, "It's just that I don't want you to have trouble in the morning, seeing me at work so soon after-"

Addy flicked the light back on and did her level best to raise one single eyebrow.

"Point taken," he said in a conciliatory voice.

"I'm glad we understand each other," Addy said, meaning it as a come-back, but as the two of them settled into the new experience of sleeping in the same bed, it seemed like the perfect description of the evening.