Groggy despite the shower and nine hours of sleep, Maura poured a measured amount of oats into boiling water, trying – and failing – to remain unwavering in her stance. Instead of being perfectly still as she stirred the oats into the water, she swayed from side to side, and one eye refused to open.
From her perch at the counter with her box of cold pizza, Jane gave a snort of amusement. "Cold pizza would have been easier."
"But not better for you." Maura managed to open both eyes, raising her eyebrows to keep them open. "Do you," she seemed to lose her train of thought for a second. "Jam." She shook her head, her messy ponytail shaking.
Again, the detective snorted down a chuckle. "Do I jam? Not really. I mean, ever since my apartment got trashed and the piano was…"
The honey brunette gave a grumble. "No, Jane, jam." She weakly pointed to the refrigerator. "Do you still have that jam I left here a few weeks ago?"
Jane smacked her lips, licking her fingers as she thought about it. "Yeah," she nodded as she tossed the empty pizza box away and went to wash her hands, "should still be there unless Jo got hungry and I didn't know it."
"Too early to list why that statement is inaccurate," came the half mumbled excuse as Maura gave a tug to the fridge door, looked in through half opened eyes, and pulled out a small but pricey looking jar of jam. With almost an afterthought, she looked to the detective at the sink and asked in the saddest, most pathetic voice Jane was sure she had ever heard, "Coffee?"
"I'll make us some," Jane said through her dimpled smile. "Why don't you go lay down on the couch, and I'll come get you when your oatmeal and coffee is ready?"
Still swaying with one eye refusing to completely open, Maura stood next to the fridge for a good 20 seconds before she nodded and shuffled off to the sofa. Jane watched her go, shaking her head at her friend's state of disorganization. "And she says I have problems keeping things together."
"Your oatmeal with a swirl of jam and coffee just how you like it, Madam" Jane said in a way-too-formal voice as she set them on the coffee table and squatted next to the smaller woman who was sprawled across the sofa. "Maura? Hey?" She reached over and placed her hand on the other woman's shoulder. "You want to go back to bed?"
"Jam oatmeal, coffee, Star Trek," Maura said as she slowly sat up. The oversized Red Sox baseball t-shirt she had borrowed from Jane scrunched up a little as she tried to scoot forward to reach the bowl.
"Your underwear matches the red of my Sox shirt?" Rolling her eyes, Jane picked up the bowl and waited for Maura to pull the shirt down before handing the oatmeal to the seated woman. "Of course it does." She took a seat next to her on the sofa, not even bothering to pretend to be annoyed that her friend was in the middle. "Those are kind of cute. Where did you get them?"
"Old Navy, women's boy shorts," came the answer between bites of oatmeal and sips of coffee. "Mmmm, good."
"The oatmeal, the coffee, your underwear, or my shirt?" Jane asked just to be difficult.
Without a pause to consider, Maura replied with just a hint of a smile on her face, "Yes."
The lanky brunette rolled her eyes. "I see you're waking up. Are you about ready for the next movie?"
"Let me just wash these and I'll be ready." Scurrying to the kitchen with bowl and coffee cup filling her hands, Maura glanced back to see Jane's dimpled smirk. "What?"
Not able to keep the blush from her face, Jane answered with a laugh, "Your underwear has the Superman logo on the back."
"Stop looking at my ass and get the movie ready while I do the dishes," Maura called out from the kitchen, her own dimpled smile tinted just a hint of red.
"Hey!" The detective shot back, though she did start queuing the next movie, "You don't get to be bossy this weekend. It's my turn, remember?"
"Okay," the doctor said, eyes narrowing, "then what would you have me do after I'm done with these dishes, Jane?"
Jane winced. "Umm… come watch the movie with me?"
"Of course," came the smooth yet somewhat amused answer, "I'll be right there as soon as I finish these dishes and put on some shorts so you'll stop fixating on my red Superman boy shorts."
"Nah, it's cool. I like Superman. Besides, I want to hurry up and start the movie. Come on, Maura!"
"Yes, fine, just a moment…"
"A planet where one gets younger over time?" Maura's look was far away as she contemplated the idea. "I don't think I'd want to get younger over time."
"Me either," Jane shook her head, "I was way too chubby when I was kid." She gave a shudder. "You know, Star Trek: Voyager hit on this during its run. There was a planet where, as they aged, they actually got younger looking. By the time they died, they looked like infants. No idea what they looked like as children or how that species conceived, but, then again, Voyager wasn't known for its amazing … anything."
Honey locks fell to the side as Maura tilted her head in thought. "As I recall, it ran for seven seasons, did it not? Why was it so popular?"
"It had the first female captain to head a show, it had a Borg Babe in a catsuit, and it had a few elements from TOS and TNG that people liked. It wasn't heavy, it wasn't deep, but it sometimes had a good episode. That one with the people who aged backwards, for example, was a pretty decent Tuvok character building episode." Jane shrugged, rolling her eyes at the romance on the screen between Picard and the love-interest-of-the-moment. "Man, this is stupid." She chunked a pillow at the screen. "Picard belongs with Doctor Crusher. I don't understand how the writers keep messing this up!"
"Yes, they do seem well suited for each other," Maura nodded her agreement. "The protective yet respectful nature the captain has for the doctor is definitely much more than that of mere colleagues. There's certainly a deeper level of emotion between them."
Jane held a hand up, motioning to the screen. "Exactly! How the writers keep thinking it's a good idea to put Picard with everyone that isn't Crusher, I don't know. It's ridiculous. If there were ever two characters that were perfect for each other, it's those two. I don't care what anyone says, they have more than friend feelings for each other. It's written all over their faces when they're in the same scenes together during the TNG TV shows. I mean, come on! Just let them kiss already!"
"You've had some time to think on this, I see," the doctor didn't bother to hide her amused look.
"Hey, seven years of almost-but-no-just-kidding can really wear thin on a person. They had seven years of flirting, and knowing glances, and mutual working respect, and sharing really deep, meaningful events, and nothing! At one point," fully ignoring the movie, Jane turned to face her friend, "It even comes out that Picard had at thing for Crusher before she married his best friend. I was like, 'Finally, they're tell each other how they feel', but, no, of course not. She's under his command, and that just can't happen. It's a load of BS. They're both professional enough to do their job and be lovers." The detective was a little breathless.
"Perhaps one or both of them doesn't hold romantic feelings for the other?"
Jane made a 'pffft' sound. "Man, whatever! Of course they do. They are totally in love with each other, and it's a deeper thing than Riker and Troi ever THOUGHT of having." She leaned forward, invading Maura's personal space. "All Picard and Beverly had to do was actually kiss, and it would have been all over. That's it!" She said, huffing with the excretion of her rant, "Just one kiss," her eyes darted down to her friend's lips. "That," she licked her own lips, "would have sealed the deal." Her voice had gotten quiet as she finished, and, though she didn't move, she paled a bit.
Maura watched the change, carefully processing the minute facial expressions of the other woman. "Jane?"
"Just a kiss," came the reply, almost as if the detective was talking to herself.
"Yes," Maura agreed, "just a kiss."
As the movie played out during the high intensity scene where the great Captain Jean-Luc Picard had the momentary ability to slow time to save his latest love interest, the time in the room seemed to slow as well.
Swallowing down the lump in her throat, the dark haired brunette closed the small gap between her and her own doctor, placing a tentative, chaste kiss on the lips before her.
When she pulled back, there was absolute terror in her eyes, which was met with absolute disbelief in the eyes of the other woman. "Jane," Maura's voice was quiet, as if she was afraid she would startle the other woman and cause her to flee, "only one?"
The humor broke the tension, and the detective chuckled with relief. "That depends. Do you want more?" She raised an eyebrow. "What, exactly, do you want?"
"No," the honey brunette slowly shook her head, eyes throwing out an unspoken dare, "I'm not in charge this weekend, remember?"
Sitting back on the sofa, Jane took a serious moment. "I don't like one time things, I don't do friends with benefits, I don't want to mess up our friendship, and I hate it when you date other people."
"Then I suppose we'll have to make sure this happens more than once, that we classify each other as something other than friends, that we have faith in the strength of our friendship, and that you do something to keep me from dating other people," came the somewhat amused response.
"Okay," the husky voice drew the word out as its owner thought about it. "Girlfriends, I have faith, and I think making you exclusively mine should cover the rest, right?"
"I'm not property," Maura protested. "I would accept being exclusive with each other, however."
"Deal." Jane stood, the movie completely ignored. "How about another kiss… in the bed room?" She winked.
Maura stood, sauntering passed the other woman, a mischievous look on her face. "Only one?"
"Maybe," the detective admitted as she followed, "I've never done this before."
Maura stopped in the doorway to the bedroom, turning to face the other woman. "We don't have to do anything you don't want to do."
"I know," Jane said as her hands found Maura's hips, "but, right now, I just really want to do you." Without warning, she again captured the doctor's lips and pushed her backwards until the both fell to the bed.
For the record, I'm a hardcore Voyager fan, but I could never get into DS9 (don't hurt me). I have, however, seen all of TOS, TNG, Voyager, and most of DS9. I've seen 3 episodes of Ent. I've seen all the movies.
That said, how are we feeling? Are good with how this panned out so far? Also... your reviews are still awesome! Thanks for continuing to read. :-)