It's been more than three weeks now and nothing has changed in his sleep pattern. At least, tomorrow is Sunday and Fitz doesn't have to work so he doesn't have to worry about staying up so late. So, as he's done quite often since he came here, he gets up from his bed, puts his t-shirt and jeans back on and heads for the hotel lobby. By now, the personal is used to seing him in the middle of the night, so they don't even ask him if he needs anything when his legs lead him almost automatically to the couch facing the TV. He switches channels for a time until he finally finds something to watch.
"Oh nice!" He says as he settles more comfortably into the couch.
Jemma had been trying to fall asleep for the last hour and she's now seriously considering raiding the minibar and drink herself to sleep. But she knows she would inevitably regret it in the morning, so she puts her shorts and tank top back on and goes down to the lobby. She was starting to feel really bored in her room so she hopes that maybe Fitz will be there. The two times they talked were surprisingly agreeable. Once you get passed the shyness, he looks to be really fun to hang around and quite interesting. And even though, she's already a lot more accustomed to being in America than Fitz, she does feel a little homesick sometimes and Fitz's accent is kind of soothing.
When she gets to the lobby, she hears a very familiar music coming from the TV and her face lights up. It has to be Fitz watching it. Before joining him, she decides to have a little fun. She quickly goes back to her room, takes some change from her purse then gets back down and buys two packs of popcorn from the vending machine. Then she does her best to approach the couch quietly to make sure it's Fitz there. And of course she was right. So she takes one of her packs of popcorn and throws it to the couch next to him, which makes him jump really hard. This is exactly the reaction that Jemma expected and she bursts out laughing.
"What the hell ..." Fitz starts as he turns around to see where it had come from. "Oh come on, you have to stop doing that." He tells her with an annoyed tone once he sees her.
"I'm sorry, it's just so easy to startle you. I couldn't resist." She says with a big smile on her face as she settles on the couch next to him.
"You really are a bad person." He says, the grin on his face contradicting his words.
"But I brought you popcorn!" She answers in mock offense.
"Oh ... yeah thank you ..." He says with a shy smile. "But how did you even know I would be here?" He asks.
"Heard the Doctor Who theme song from the elevator. I knew it had to be my fellow insomniac friend watching it!"
"Oh so you think you know me so well already?" He asks, teasingly.
"Well, I was obviously right!" She answers with a triumphant grin.
"Yeah I guess. So you've already watched the show?"
"Have I already watched the show?" She asks with a raised eyebrow. "Please, it's only the best show in the history of television. I could write a book on it!" She continues enthusiastically, which brings a big smile on his face.
"Wow ... well I would call a nerd alert but I could probably write that book with you so ..." He says and they both chuckle.
They stay silent for a minute, both focused on what's happening on TV.
"So, do you have to work tomorrow?" He asks.
"No, it's my day off. You?" She answers, not taking her eyes from the TV.
"Same" He answers. "Well, we're going to need more popcorn because apparently this wonderful channel is airing a Doctor Who marathon every week so we have hours of the good Doctor in front of us." He says turning to face her and they both smile.
"Sounds like a plan!" She answers. "But you're paying for the next pack" She adds with a grin.
For the next three hours, they only move from the couch to get something to eat or drink. Other than that, they just stay on the couch and watch Doctor Who very enthusiastically in each other's company. Sometimes, they would remain silent for ten or fifteen minutes, just enjoying a particularly fun or intense moment on the show, but they spend most of the time talking about the show, their favorite episodes and favorite doctor. When the conversation starts going to a more scientific approach of the show, Fitz realizes that Jemma has quite an extensive knowledge about a lot of topics. A knowledge that's quite hard to acquire without studying it in a university. When he asks her about it, he is surprised to learn that they have apparently more in common than their origin, loving Doctor Who or being insomniac.
"Well, actually I have PHDs in biology and chemistry so if I ever get tired of acting, I could always work as a biochemist." She says with a bashful smile that surprises him because she doesn't seem the kind to ever be shy about anything.
"Wow, I didn't know that!"
"I don't like to talk about it so much, it's still a sore point with my parents. They were disappointed when I chose my acting career over it." She says with a slightly sad smile.
"Oh I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought this up." He answers with a sympathetic smile.
"No, that's alright, it's nice to talk about it sometimes. Especially with someone who understands what I'm talking about."
"Yeah, I know what you mean." He says, sighing. "Anyway, that's kind of impressive. You're what? 26?" He asks and she nods. "You've been acting full time for at least four years. That means you must have finished your PHDs while you were actually filming movies all around the world. How did you achieve that?" He asks enthusiastically and she can feel herself blushing. She's used to people complimenting her for her physique but not for her brains and she likes it a lot more, especially coming from someone like Fitz, who she knows is kind of a genius too.
"Well, actually, I finished high school quite young so I managed to get my PHDs by twenty so ..." Usually, when Jemma says that, people are surprised, impressed or sometimes doubtful, not believing that a young actress like herself can also actually be a genius. But once more, Fitz surprises her by just giving her a really big smile.
"What? Is there something funny about it?" She asks confused.
"Oh no no no, I was just thinking that we have more in common than I thought because that's the exact same age I had my degrees in physics and engineering too." He says, smiling.
"Oh ... yeah so we're actually both proper geniuses." She says, grinning.
"Yeah we are ... Do you think we should start a secret club or something? He says and they both chuckle.
So how come you became an actress?"
"Well, I did some theater for fun during college. An agent noticed me and hired me to do a few commercials and things like that. I thought why not because it was easy money and didn't take up much of my time. And when I finished university, I had the opportunity to be in an independent movie. It was just two months of shooting and I thought it would be a fun thing to do before going to the real world looking for a job. But then it worked really well and I got to make another and another and here I am!" She says with a small smile.
"Well I'm glad you did because my nights here would be really boring without my insomniac friend." He says with a bashful smile and she chuckles.
"Well, I'm glad too but I still think I'll go back to science at some point."
"Call me if you do, I have a few engineering designs that could use the input of a biochemist." He says, smiling.
"Deal!" She says as she settles back deeper into the couch with Fitz.
When the last episode of the night is nearing its end, both Jemma and Fitz are starting to feel the effects of the lack of sleep. Their conversation is now reduced to a few words once in a while or a shared laugh when something funny happens in the show. It's not an awkward silence, it's the kind of silence you share with someone you're comfortable enough with, without having to feel the need to fill it. It both surprises and delights Fitz how effortlessly they have fallen into this easy camaraderie. He also realizes that, even in his last job, where he was surrounded by engineers, he almost never had such an interesting conversation. Maybe his mom was right, it does take another genius to be able to follow him! At some point, he feels a weight on his shoulder and when he turns his head, he sees that Jemma has fallen asleep on it. Without really realizing it they both got closer to each other as the night progressed and now, she looks so peaceful sleeping like that, that he feels bad waking her up but she would probably be better in her own bed.
"Jemma? You should go to bed." He says in the softest voice possible while lightly touching her face to wake her up.
"Mmhphh" She says, her eyes open but still sleepy.
"You fell asleep Jemma, you should go to bed or your neck is gonna hurt. I think I'm gonna go to." He says as he stands up, slightly groaning. But instead of standing up, Jemma just lies down where he was sitting.
"Oh wow, come on Jemma stand up, you have to see this sunrise!" He says when he looks through the window at the sky that's starting to light up with beautiful colors from yellow to orange to a bright pink.
"Nah, I'm fine here, just describe it to me." She says, her voice a bit grumpy.
"No, I swear it's amazing, you don't see a sunrise like that everyday. You don't want to miss it." He says, extending his hand to help her up. After a moment's hesitation, she reluctantly takes it and joins him to look outside the window.
"Oh wow you were right. Thank you Fitz." She says with a sleepy smile which he is quick to reciprocate.
And even though they're both really tired, they walk through the door and out as one and remain there until the sun has fully risen.