A/N: I reblogged a drabble prompt meme on tumblr, and got enough Sydrian requests that I figured I should post them collectively here too. (One more to go, but I'm thinking of posting it separately, because it's gotten a little longer than I planned.) I promise I'll get back to posting regular oneshots afterwards! x

Prompts: Innocence, Are You Challenging Me?, Mirror

Innocence

Three missed calls and one new voicemail message. Sydney's blissful mood soured as she listened. Ms. Terwilliger wanted her to locate a contact of Alicia.

Which wouldn't have been a problem yesterday, Sydney thought with mortification. She poured herself a cup of coffee – her third that morning – and yawned into the mug as she listened to the message again. Her teacher wanted her to perform the spell tonight, at their usual meeting place in the desert. She'd invited Adrian along too; Sydney smiled at that, fiddling absently with the oversized men's dress shirt she wore.

She dialled Ms. Terwilliger's cell before she could talk herself out of it.

"Jackie Terwilliger," a familiar, crisp voice answered.

"Hello, Ms. Terwilliger," Sydney said, and then she paused as her embarrassment caught up with her. "I, um... I'm afraid I can't do that scrying spell for you tonight."

"Oh?" Her teacher sounded frustrated. Sydney could faintly hear cats meowing in the background. "Well, would tomorrow night work for you?"

Heat pooled in her cheeks. "Um, no. Not tomorrow. Or, um, any night, actually. Ever. You see –" Sydney yelped as the phone was tugged from her hands.

"Jackie, so good to hear from you," Adrian said smoothly. He grinned down at Sydney, apparently unconcerned by the glare she gave him. "Terribly sorry, but whatever secret witchy project you have planned for my girl can wait. It's her weekend off and I'm not giving her back until Monday morning at the earliest." He snapped the phone shut without waiting for a reply.

Sydney groaned and buried her face in the sofa. Monday morning at the earliest. Well, if Ms. Terwilliger hadn't figured it out from her stammering excuses, she surely understood now. She turned to give Adrian a piece of her mind, but without another word he scooped her up, half-empty coffee mug and all, and carried her back the way they'd come.

Well, she reasoned to herself as she curled her arms around his neck. It can wait. At least until Monday morning.

Are You Challenging Me?

"This is going to be a nightmare," I groaned.

Adrian rubbed my shoulders. "Not necessarily. I'll have to meet the in-laws eventually. Do you think I should introduce myself as the father of your illicit demon child or the future Mr. Sage?"

We were in Adrian's living room and I sat in-between his legs, on the ugly threadbare sofa I'd grown to love. It smelled of clove cigarettes and it didn't match anything else in the apartment, but it was also small for a two-seater; small enough that I needn't make any excuses for my tendency to curl up as close to Adrian as I could when we were alone. Not that he seemed to mind.

I leaned my head back on his chest. "You are not meeting him. He'll be meeting us at Clarence's tomorrow and you are going to stay far, far away." My father was stopping by, and as much as I'd love to have Adrian there for support, I couldn't risk my father noticing anything between us. And I was more than a little nervous of what he and Adrian might say to each other.

"You met my father," Adrian reminded me.

"Remember how well that turned out?"

He pressed a kiss to the back of my neck. "I remember you sticking up for me. Let me be there for you. Just in case."

I shook my head. "You can't. He already suspects I'm not as indoctrinated as he'd like. A commendation from a vampire would mean nothing to him. No – it would mean worse than nothing. He'd be even more suspicious of my loyalty."

"I could kick his ass with a few Wolfe moves and then blame it on the whole crazy-spirit-user persona. He never has to know it's about you."

I snorted. "Yes, that's a great way to introduce yourself to my father."

Adrian grinned and wrapped his arms around me. "I just want you to be happier," he said. "If throwing punches at your father and making a fool out of myself would make you happy, then that's what I'll do."

"I don't want you to hit him," I said sternly. "No matter what he says."

"Can I at least intimidate him?" Adrian grinned, revealing his sharp, white canines. "How much do you want to bet that I could scare him away within ten minutes of his arrival?"

I shook my head. "You wouldn't dare."

"Is that a challenge, Sage?" Adrian's grin transformed into a dangerously attractive smirk.

I pursed my lips. On the one hand, Adrian's presence there could be disastrous; my father was almost certain to make some comment on my weight or my attire, and I wasn't sure that Adrian could behave himself, no matter what he said. On the other hand, I'd seen Adrian at his lowest, with his own father. And I did desperately want his support.

"Twenty dollars," I said finally. "I bet you twenty dollars that you won't be able to scare him off before he makes some insulting remark towards me."

Adrian raised an eyebrow. "I'm not going to bet against you for money." He turned me to face him and tugged me closer. "I can think of much better things to bet on." His eyes lingered on my lips.

My heart thudded in my chest. "I'm sure we can work out an alternative prize if you win," I said recklessly.

Adrian bent to press his lips to my ear. "You're on," he said in a voice that made me shiver, and as he pulled back his eyes met mine with a look of such intensity that part of me wished he'd already won.

Mirror

Adrian found his pregnant wife in their bedroom, dressed only in her underwear, silently appraising her body's new curves in the full length mirror. She leaned into him when he placed his hands on her hips and bent down to kiss her shoulder, but her stubborn frown remained.

"You look gorgeous today," he told her truthfully.

"You mean fatter," she grumbled. "Soon I'll look like a whale." Her words were light, but he sensed the genuine insecurity lying just beneath the surface. He knew only too well that old insecurities were hard to shake.

"Let me show you how beautiful you are," he whispered. Sydney watched the mirror with half-lidded eyes as his hands drew circles across her skin and his lips marked her neck. When one hand curled protectively over her stomach and the other dipped lower she cried out softly, eyes fluttering shut as her head flopped back to rest on his shoulder.

"Uh-uh. Eyes front," Adrian teased, stilling his hand. "You don't want to miss the main event."

Sydney reached back, grinning when her hand made contact and her husband let out a low groan.

The mirror was quickly forgotten.