As Waverly made her way down the stairs, now completely showered and clothed she was met with an absolutely mouth watering smell. She couldn't remember the last time that the Homestead had smelt like a home cooked meal. And she was not going to complain.
As she rounded the corner at the bottom of the stairs into the kitchen she immediately found the source of the incredible smell and site. Nicole Haught was standing in front of the stove with her back to her stirring a bubbling pot of dark red sauce. Some kind of pasta boiled in the large pot next to her.
Knowing that the officer was aware of her presence, Waverly made her way over to her girlfriend and wrapped her arms around the taller woman's waist, resting her head in the square of her warm back. She felt Nicole relax slightly at her touch, glancing down at her slightly.
"That smells amazing." She said, her voice muffled by Nicole's shirt.
"It'll taste amazing too." Nicole said, turning back to her pot and tossing in a few herbs.
"Oh come on!"
Waverly hadn't noticed Wynonna sitting at the table, her booted feet up on the scrubbed wooden furniture piece. "You sneak up behind her and nothing. I simply raise a gun and the next thing I know there's a knife in my face. Totally not fair."
Both Waverly and Nicole laughed. The officer bit her tongue slightly restraining herself from responding that Waverly was much cuter than Wynonna fearing that may cause unnecessary conflict. However Waverly's response would seem to stir the pot in that direction regardless.
"Well, I'm just lighter on my feet." The younger sister responded "And I'm cuter."
Nicole simply smirked and focused on stirring her sauce as Wynonna scoffed and muttered something about her ass being top shelf.
"It'll be ready soon." Nicole announced, keen on changing the subject.
"I'll set the table." Waverly said giving her girlfriend one final squeeze and kiss before releasing her. She now fully turned to face her sister but was suddenly distracted by the jarred spider corpse that now held several dead or dying flowers. She caught Wynonna's eye. Her sister simply shrugged.
"What?" She said defensively. "Haught said I should put some kind of decoration on the table. She didn't specify what."
Nicole glanced back at the centerpiece and groaned. "She's right, I didn't exactly say it couldn't be the spider." she shrugged. "She did add the flowers. Better than nothing."
Waverly just sighed and set to work putting plates around the table, taking care to shove Wynonna's feet off of it, sending her flailing backwards in the process.
She had just finished pouring them all glasses of water when Nicole was placing a large pot of pasta and sauce into the center of the table, next to the spider.
"Holy shit Haught!" Wynonna exclaimed as she took her first bite. "Well done."
"Most of it's from a can." Nicole waved off the compliments; slightly curious as to the last time Wynonna had eaten anything that even remotely resembled a proper meal.
Once they'd all finished eating which took a surprisingly short amount of time considering the amount of food the two Earp's consumed; Waverly popped an old western movie into their VHS player and they all settled in to watch cheesy jokes and bad action.
Nicole sat herself on the floor after hesitating at the couch, seeing Waverly sat on one side and Wynonna on the other. The floor seemed like a better option, despite Waverly's slightly disappointed eyes.
Finally, once the end credits of the film began to roll Wynonna sat bolt upright, unable to sit still any longer. "Well, it's been fun. I'm gonna go try and find Doc, probably at Shorty's." Then without any hesitation the woman was leaving the room.
"Don't do anything stupid!" Waverly called after her sister. Nicole had thought Wynonna was too far gone to have heard but was mistaken as a moment later the eldest Earp's middle finger emerged from the corner she'd just rounded.
Waverly just chuckled. At the sound of the front door closing Nicole sat herself up and stretched. Her time spent sitting on the Homestead's hard floor had waged war on her back. She pulled herself up onto the couch was not displeased to find her girlfriend immediately cuddled into her, resting her head on her shoulder.
"Thank you for supper." Waverly muttered, eyes still on the scrolling credits of the film.
"Anytime Waves." Nicole said kissing the top of her girlfriend's head, inhaling Waverly's light and flowery scent. She did mark slightly how as well as tasting slightly different, the girl smelt slightly different. Deciding that they both seemed to be just on the mending side of their fight the officer didn't mention these changes. Waverly was going through enough struggles without Nicole pointing out any.
Finally the credits of the film ended the room was now only lit by the false black of imageless TV screen. Waverly had made no effort to move since snuggling into the taller woman's frame. Nicole wondered if she'd fallen asleep.
Hoping she already knew the answer, Nicole asked politely "Waves? Should I go soon?"
At those words however Waverly proved to be very much awake as she tightened her grip on the officer, clearly not keen on having her move. Then however, in a moment of doubt responded. "Do you want to go?"
Nicole looked down and was met with Waverly's bright round adorable eyes. She leaned down slightly and Waverly met her lips eagerly, pulling themselves as closely to one another as physically possible. Eventually Waverly was all but sitting on top of her girlfriend, her hand fiddling with the buttons on her shirt.
"Waves." Nicole said between passionate kisses. "Maybe we should go upstairs."
Waverly seemed to ignore the comment and began to kiss the side of the officer's neck, beginning to undo her shirt buttons and placing her hands on her now only bra covered chest.
Despite herself Nicole began to toy with the bottom of Waverly's shirt. Then the shirt was gone, Waverly having pulled it over her head herself.
Biting her lip in fear of a moan escaping her mouth Nicole reinforced. "We don't know how long Wynonna will be gone."
That seemed to pull Waverly out of her kissing daze for a moment, she looked at the flushed woman she was sitting on. "I know she only threatening me in terms of hurting you but I think she'd react in a similar fashion if she saw anything like this."
Waverly just chuckled and released her tight grip on her girlfriend slightly. "Then let's go upstairs." She challenged, clearly not moving.
Nicole smiled and with a strong grip on the underside of both of Waverly's thighs hoisted her into the air and proceeded to carry her to her bedroom.
XXXXXX
Nicole awoke very suddenly and without warning, not entirely sure as to what had caused her to become conscious. She shifted slightly in the bed she'd fallen asleep in with Waverly. It was still very late into the night, so late it was almost early. Again Nicole noticed the woman was not with her. She sat herself up slightly and scanned her bleary eyes around the room and eventually caught site of Waverly's silhouette near the window.
"Waves?" She asked confused throwing the blankets off herself, ignoring the biting cold air that was now attacking her skin. "You okay?"
Before Nicole could even put her bare feet on the cold floor she saw her girlfriend's head snap back to look at her. It was so dark Nicole could almost swear it looked at though Waverly's eyes were completely dark.
"Waverly?" She asked again, hearing the concern in her own voice.
"Shh." Waverly said quietly, her voice strangely low. "It's okay."
From below them Nicole heard a door open and slam shut.
"Its just Wynonna." Waverly said, leaving the window and returning to sit on the bed. "I wanted to make sure she was okay. That they didn't get her."
"Okay." The older girl replied warily, trying to discern if there was any color coming from Waverly's eyes. "You should get some sleep though." She said putting on hand on her girlfriend's shoulder. Deciding it best not to ask who they were.
"Okay." Waverly said, getting under the blankets once more, so smoothly it seemed as though she were in a trance. Nicole made to wrap herself around the slighter girl but was struck by how cold her was. Seeming to sense the officer's hesitance, Waverly turned to face her and snuggled herself in closely. Nicole was about to comment on the other's girl's outrageously cold body temperature when she felt Waverly place a hand on her chest.
"Shhh." She muttered and Nicole felt a strange tightness moving across her chest and into her outer extremities. "Sleep." Waverly's voice was definitely different from its usual tone.
Then came an exhaustion. One like she'd never felt before. So heavy that she couldn't even get the words out to voice her concern before she found herself sinking into a deep sleep.