I had wondered if anyone would have noticed the lack of description about the note from the shrink. This is for della57 who called me out! I meant to include that the note was completely empty and it would cause for questions between the pair. But it's a little late now. Kidding. Hope you guys enjoy.
Ema.
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Woke up the morning after Thanksgiving. To the sound of clinking in the kitchen. I don't remember much of last night. We all stayed up too late, and drank a little too much at the urging of Happy and Paige. It was an interesting morning.
Walter blinked his eyes as he woke up from a slumber induced by alcohol. There was a grimy taste at the back of his teeth, a leftover aftertaste of the vodka shots the team imbibed themselves with after Cabe had left the festivities. He remembered the look in Paige's eyes when Happy brought out the chilled bottle. She looked at him under her eyelashes. It was a look that would be his undoing. It was also a silent challenge, as if to instigate a social experiment with no words. Walter planted his feet on the cool floor, noticing that his house shoes were not in their designated place. He was also missing his t-shirt. Walter stood, letting his head become acclimated to the new position and pushed through the hangover to start his morning routine in the bathroom.
It took him four minutes to complete his morning respite, of scrubbing his face with ice-cold water, brushing his teeth and using the toilet. It would be an extra ten minutes if he wanted to shower, but it was Friday, and the team was taking a long weekend so he felt no need to make himself presentable. He figured it was just himself and Sylvester in the garage so there was no one to impress, so he went in search for food.
What he found in the kitchen nearly gave him a heart attack.
He found his shirt.
And his house shoes.
On Paige.
Just that, on Paige. Her hair was haphazardly pulled back to prevent it from falling in her face, but the unruly curls of the morning crept from the hair tie. He had to steady his erratic heartbeat as he watched her reach into an upper cupboard and the hem of his shirt slid further up her legs. Not revealing anything but a silky expanse of the skin on her legs. Walter moved in stealth haste to the kitchen and stood directly behind.
"What are you doing?" He asked as he placed his hands on her waist feeling her jump from the shock of his touch. He looked over her shoulder to the skillet on the stove. It resembled faintly of a dish his mother would make on special occasions. "Are you making breakfast?"
"For a genius, you are quite dense." Paige chuckled and danced against his fingers as they tickled up her sides. She elbowed him softly and continued to shuffle the contents about in the skillet with the spatula.
"I was wondering what happened to my shirt." Walter said tugging at the bottom of the shirt, pulling it down so it would cover a bit more of her legs. If asked, it was to keep her skin safe from the possible chance of grease jumping from the skillet and burning her perfect skin. He let his fingers linger on her skin, brushing back and forth a few times before returning to the position on her waist. "Is that corned beef hash?" His lips murmured against her ear and a delicious shiver ran through Paige's body.
This happened whenever a bit of his Irish accent poked through his carefully corrected speech. It tended to sneak out when he was excited, drunk or whispering. At the moment, he was only two. She felt his grip on her hips tighten for a moment and then relax and he stepped away to give her room to cook.
"It isn't exactly corned beef hash." Paige said shuffling the contents in the skillet before taking a bit from the pan and taking a bit. "You guys did not have any corned beef, so I had to make do." She explained and put the bit into her mouth, savoring the greasy bite of sausage and the diced saltiness of the potatoes. She giggled at the downturn of Walter's lips. "It isn't ready yet." She explained smirking at his pout.
"Then why do you get a snitch?" Walter asked.
"Because," Paige laughed, "After suffering through a night of your endless chattering-"
"I didn't know they called what we did last night chattering, and you weren't complaining last night." Walter smirked at the memory of his lips on Paige's neck as they had tumbled drunkenly to bed. He was impressed with himself for not leaving any marks on the responsive skin of her neck from the ministrations he delivered for a bit. Paige snapped her fingers pulling him back to the present.
"Then you continued to talk in your sleep. About theorems and quantum mechanics." Paige said rolling her eyes at his smile. "I swear, it was like you were trying to bore me to sleep."
"I must have been asleep." Walter chuckled. Quantum mechanics was a topic of conversation that was probably best in bed when a person was asleep. He watched her for a moment before she turned back to the skillet adding a pinch of salt and some chopped onion. "I didn't have the best night sleep other." He smirked slyly as her shouldered scrunched from being tensed. "You kick in your sleep, did you know that?"
Paige finished adding a layer of cheese to the top of the dish, turning the heat down to a simmer, and then covering the pan. "Probably from kicking you during your babble about quantum mechanics." Walter tensed and Paige jumped at the sound of Toby's voice as he meandered into the kitchen rubbing his own face. "It smells delicious, Paige." He kept his eyes on her eyes, noticing that his friend was focused on the hem of the shirt. Toby smirked and went to the refrigerator. He retrieved the orange juice and turned to watch the silent conversation between the pair. Walter was staring with an imploring glance as if he was trying to tell Paige to go put on more clothes. Paige grimaced from embarrassment.
"Paige, could you hand me a glass?" Toby cracked a grin as her eyes widened at the request. She would have to reach up into the cupboard.
"I will get it." Walter jumped up from his stool and came to her defense. She rolled her eyes and hurried in reaching up to the shelf to retrieve a clear glass. Toby kept his eyes focused on Walter who was glaring at the hem of the shirt.
"Here, Toby." Paige said offering him the glass.
"Than you, Paige." He chuckled, "I need another one, for Happy."
"Where is Happy?" Walter asked wanting to get the attention off of the awkward tension in the kitchen. The wolfish smile on Toby's face was enough of an answer but the shrink was not the gentlemen type that did not kiss and tell.
"She didn't think of putting on my clothes to make me breakfast." Toby's smile spread across the face from the responses his comment elicited. He chuckled at the gagging noise from Walter and Paige dropping the glass to the counter. "Geez, I am just kidding. She was still asleep when I heard you guys talking."
"Toby!" The group in the kitchen all looked in the direction of Toby's room. A blush flashed across his cheeks before grabbing the glass from Paige's hand. He quickly poured her a glass.
"That would be my queue." He waged his eyebrows in a suggestive tone at Walter and scurried down the hall. Walter turned to look at Paige who had her back to him. She looked like she was shaking. He figured it was from embarrassment but he heard her quiet chuckle.
"That was so-" Paige ran her hands through her hair. "I don't know what is more awkward."
"Between almost flashing your nether regions to Toby, or his comment about Happy." Paige blanched at his question. She glared in his direction and then decided it was her turn to extract some revenge. He watched as her fingers moved to the hem of the shirt and started to pull it up revealing an inch of skin. Walter swallowed. But the tantalizing routine was interrupted.
"Um, Paige," Sylvester's voice caused the blood to drain from Paige's face and Walter to let out a bark of laughter. "What are you wearing?" Paige rushed from the kitchen, yelling at Sylvester to close his eyes and for Walter to quit laughing. She rushed up the stairs, and slammed the door to Walter's bedroom. "So you and Paige?"
Walter shrugged his shoulders and went to the stove to turn the heat off to the skillet. "I don't know. She stayed the night because we were all to drunk to think straight last night. Ralph was with Drew."
"And her clothes?" Sylvester queried. Her clothes were a different story.
"They are in the wash." Walter explained, "Toby spilled his glass of red wine on her pants." Sylvester nodded as if it made perfect sense. "So, Paige wearing just your shirt to make us breakfast is normal, and did Toby cause the bruise on her neck?"
Walter stilled at the question. He turned from the stove and saw his friend's sarcastic smirk. "Shut up, Sylvester." And with that the genius stalked out of the kitchen and followed Paige's pathway up to his bedroom. Sylvester chuckled and went about dishing himself up a plate of the sausage hash and enjoyed the peaceful morning reading his new Super Fun Guy comic.
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Just a fun little chapter. Hope you enjoyed.
Ema.