A/N: Thanks for all of the reviews and support guys! I've been having a blast with these two, to be quite honest. My devious plan is to have everyone who stumbles upon this shipping the crap outta this couple! I'm so wickedly evil that its brilliant! Okay, not so much. Lol. But you can't blame me for trying! Also, the fact that my indents don't "translate" to copy and paste on here and I have to space them all is slowly going to drive me insane.

Slow

"Do the others know?"

Aster hummed a soft, questioning reply, far too content and drowsy to offer much more of a response than that.

"Do they know? About us?"

He lazily opened his eyes, looking down at the woman who lay on top of him, her head on his chest, her legs twined with his, fingers toying with the tattooed fur on his arms. He took up her entire couch, leaving himself as the only option for her. Well, not the only option. There was the overstuffed chair. She'd thrown a distasteful glance at it before flopping down on top of him and making herself perfectly at home.

"They might. Would it matter?"

Sophie levered herself up and he grunted as her elbows dug in just below his ribs. She turned her head to the side, regarding him curiously. "Don't suppose it would, would it?"

Aster tightened his arm around her, drawing her back down until her head rested just over his heart again. They'd been at it for a good two weeks now, still testing the waters, still trying to stumble their way through a relationship that may have been taboo on several levels.

"Jack knows," he murmured, without really even thinking about it. "Still tryin' to get used to the idea myself."

Again Sophie sat up. Her face was a mask of seriousness, her striking green eyes soft with understanding.

"We'll take it slow," she said. "No one has to know but us. At least not for now."

The plan sounded perfect to him. Unnatural…but perfect. He wasn't used to doing thing slow. He was used to speed, to action. He couldn't remember when he'd last taken his sweet time doing anything. Oh, no…scratch that. He'd taken his sweet time figuring out what it was about Sophie that drew him, and admitting it to himself, and then to her. Okay, so yes…he might have stalled a bit on that one.

She was watching him patiently, her gaze never wavering. He brushed her hair back, resting his paw just below her ear at the nape of her neck. "Get yer elbows outta my sides," he complained.

Instead, she leaned down, her lips moving leisurely over his, driving every last thought from his head.

When it came to her, he could manage slow just fine.