savirose23: Thank you very much, well, that remains to be seen but I´ll clear that up in time ;)
teparry: Hey, thank you for the review- well, it´s not so much something she´ll enjoy herself, more another great entertainment for the rest of the colony, it´ll involve Taylor and some tree climbing :D
2 weeks to Christmas
If it wasn´t for the fact that Guzman refuses to talk to her except for when he can´t avoid it professionally, Wash would claim that her Christmastime has adapted an almost dreamlike quality ever since she and Taylor have pulled their act together and admitted their feelings for each other.
Evenings are now spend together, usually at her unit since Nathaniel claims that it´s much more cozy than his own and he hasn´t even complained about the unmistakable signs for the approaching holiday that have turned up gradually over the last week, some additional candles here, a small ornamental angel there, Alicia isn´t big on decorations but after all it´s Christmas and she permits herself to indulge a little, especially since she´s in such a cheery mood she can hardly contain herself.
It´s Friday and they are tugged away at her house in front of the fireplace, Nathaniel leaning back against the couch, Wash lying in his lap, his fingers weaving trough her hair, mussing up the glossy strands before straightening them out again.
"You want anymore Whiskey?"
She asks, sounding a bit reluctant to move from her position and Taylor shakes his head.
"No, I´m good, just stay where you are."
He bends down and softly kisses her lips, then straightens up again, a light smile playing around his lips.
"You´re beautiful" he tells her, his hand continuing to stroke her hair as he watches her reaction, his smile widening as she sighs happily, her hand coming up to curl around his neck and pull him back down to her, this time the kiss lasts considerably longer and they are both a bit breathless when they finally break apart.
"Bed?"
Taylor asks and Wash nods, feeling a little dazed, he has a talent to make her loose her head and she doesn´t mind one bit, quite the contrary.
It takes them quite some time to get to her bedroom as Wash finds herself pushed up against the wall more than once and her clothes have already mysteriously disappeared from her body as Taylor finally presses her down into the sheets.
The first time they´ve been together like this Taylor has discovered that other than he had expected his temperamental lieutenant is perfectly fine with letting him take the lead and just enjoy herself, it accommodates his own domineering nature and Wash´s need to be allowed to feel less like a soldier and more like a woman from time to time.
It doesn´t mean that he´s overly gentle with her and she wouldn´t want him to, both have quite a few colorful bruises and bite marks and- in Taylor´s case- scratches adorning their skin, not that they mind, they are a good fit, here as well as in every other aspect of their lives.
Finally Wash snuggles up against Nathaniel´s warm body underneath the sheets, it´s snowing again, the white mass swirling in front of the window, glistening and glittering and once again Alicia can´t help but think that it looks absolutely beautiful and wonder how much more difficult it will be to do their jobs in the morning.
"What do you want for Christmas?"
She asks, she has several ideas what she could get him but she is really curious what he wants himself.
"Apart from you?"
She smiles, briefly pressing her lips against his shoulder.
"Apart from me."
"Can´t think of anything- a vacation would be nice, though."
"What is stopping you from taking a few days off?"
"I meant a vacation with you and given the way Guz is acting right now, I think asking him to stand in for us while we leave to be alone somewhere wouldn´t be the best idea."
There´s nothing to add to that and right now Wash is too happy to ponder her strained relationship with their third in command, she knows Guz too well to pressure him, he´ll come to her when he´s ready and until then she will have to wait and be patient.
"Well, you´ll have to do with just me, then" she jokes and feels his arms tighten around her in response as he drops a kiss onto her head.
"Having you is much more than I could ever have hoped for, Alicia."
She laughs softly.
"I never took you for a romantic."
"Oh, I am very romantic, Wash, I´ll prove it to you in time."
Curious she looks up at him but he only smirks mysteriously and shakes his head, indicating that there´s no use to ask and she resigns herself that she apparently have to wait and see what he meant.
The next morning has another surprise in store for them, when they try to open the front door they find that it´s not possible, they are literally snowed in and when Taylor contacts Guzman he´s informed that most of the units aren´t faring any better, he gives orders for the soldiers still outside from their nightshift to try and get the barracks free first so their comrades can get to their posts.
The commander switches the comm back off and turns to his lieutenant, an amused smile on his face.
"Looks like we have time for a nice, long breakfast, Wash."
She is just as amused and doesn´t really mind that turn of events, she´s well stocked with food and while Taylor rekindles the fire, Wash busies herself in the kitchen, deciding that it´s a perfect morning for pancakes and hot chocolate.
"Your cooking is too good, Wash, I`ll have to start working out more."
Nathaniel´s arms wrap around her waist and he nuzzles her neck, making her giggle in a most uncharacteristically way.
"Not that I`m complaining" he adds as he slips one hand underneath her tank and rests it over her stomach, he presses his lips to her cheek, then watches as she flips the pancake and slips it onto a warmed plate before adding more batter to the pan.
"I never knew you were so domesticated."
She shrugs lightly.
"It´s not that exciting, just pancakes."
"I know from experience that you can do a lot more than pancakes, where did you learn to cook, your parents had a chef."
She tenses briefly, like always when she´s reminded of her family and her loveless childhood.
"I spend a lot of time in the kitchen, our chef was great with kids, he let me watch him cook and then try everything he made, when I was older he let me help sometimes."
"Remind me to send him a thank you card next time the portal opens" Taylor jokes, a hand inching towards the pancakes and Wash slaps it playfully, shaking her head.
"Behave- if you want to do something useful you can get plates."
Some minutes later they are in front of the fireplace- again as Wash realizes with some amusement- and enjoying their pancakes and hot chocolate.
"How long do you think it´ll take to dig us out?"
Taylor shrugs, it´s clear to Wash that her CO isn´t worried, there isn´t much to do today, just some leftover paperwork and they´ll still have plenty of time for that later.
"I don´t really mind, if we are stuck here it means that the teachers and probably all the kids are stuck too and that means that they won't start baking anytime soon."
Wash grins, amused how much the prospect of eating some cookies which don´t even exist yet horrifies him.
"The big bad Commander Taylor, scared of some kids and their cookies."
"Are you sassing your CO, woman?"
"That might be the case, Sir- can I make it up to you somehow?"
He looks her upside down in a way that makes her skin tingle all over.
"We´ll revisit that later, Lieutenant, wouldn´t want the pancakes to get cold."
"You sure know how to make a woman feel cherished and wanted" Wash complains, not at all surprised when her plate is firmly tugged from her hands and put aside along with his own before he pulls her into his lap and kisses her, the remainder of their breakfast forgotten until they are interrupted by Nathaniel´s comm coming to life.
He curses under his breath as he disentangles himself from Wash to get it, leaving her lying on the rug in front of the fireplace, flushed and out of breath as she watches him activate the device, eyes following his every movement as she enjoyed the sight of his well toned naked upper body.
"Taylor."
"Sir, we´ve dug you out now, I´ll wait for you at command, my shift is over."
Guzman sounds exhausted and part of Wash feels bad for being disappointed that they have to go and relief him now.
Nathaniel turns to her, just looking at her for a long moment, then he sighs.
"I really hate to say this but get dressed, Lieutenant."
She can´t help but chuckle as she reaches for her bra and tank, tossing him his shirt and they dress hurriedly, then add their parkas and winter boots before leaving the house.
It´s almost three in the afternoon when the ´cookies of doom´ (Taylor´s words, not her´s) finally arrive at the office, accompanied by one of the teachers and a group of three timid looking children, two girls and a boy, the commander does his very best to look pleased and the children seem to buy it while Wash has to hide her amusement at the way his jaw clenches when he accepts the plate from the smaller of the girls.
After Taylor has popped one of the cookies into his mouth and complimented it, the teacher ushers the kids outside again, leaving the plate behind and Wash eyes it critically, the cookies look quite harmless, at least they aren´t burned but if Nathaniel´s expression is anything to go by, they will stay on the plate for some time.
"That bad?"
She asks, smiling when he pushes the plate away from him as far as it will go.
"Tastes a bit like cardboard."
"You used to eat cardboard?"
"Funny, Wash- you can leave early today."
She raises her eyebrow at him.
"Sir?"
"Go home and bake some proper cookies, will you?"
"You´re sending me home early to bake cookies for you? Is that even legal?"
He shrugs.
"Nothing I do with you is legal, woman."
"Point taken- I´ll see you for dinner, then, anything special you want?"
"Happy with anything you make."
Wash leaves the office and slowly makes her way up the steps, mindful of the icy patches upon the wood.
While picking up some ingredients for her cookies in the markets she runs into Mark Reynolds who´s looking at a display of boardgames, his face lightening up at the sight of her which Wash thinks is a sure sign that he hasn´t had enough hand on hand combat training with her yet, otherwise he wouldn´t look so damn pleased to see her.
"Lieutenant."
"Reynolds- you´re doing your Christmas shopping?"
He nods, pointing at the cart.
"We all like playing games, so I thought I´d get a different one for everybody and we can all use them together."
"Sounds like a good idea."
He hesitates for a moment, then says "so have your troubles sorted themselves out?"
Wash shrugs.
"Not entirely, apparently it´ll take time- if you stop by my place in about an hour you can try some cookies."
She adds, winking and he grins.
"I´ll be there, Ma´am."
After picking up some meat for dinner, Wash makes her way over to her house, it has stopped snowing for now and people are enjoying the opportunity to go outside, so it takes the lieutenant much longer to get home than anticipated, she´s forced to stop and talk to someone so often.
When she finally starts baking it´s already dark outside but remembering the vast amount of paperwork Taylor now has to manage without her help, she isn´t too worried that she won´t be finished on time.
She has just put the third tray in the oven when there´s a knock on the door and she opens it to find Mark outside, offering her a golden Christmas bauble.
"It´s chocolate" he tells her, "I heard you like chocolate."
Smiling Wash accepts the treat, stepping back so the boy can enter.
"I do, thank you- cookies are on the counter."
They eat cookies and drink some tea, chatting about Mark´s training in the future and Wash shares some war stories, all the while the pile of cookies gets bigger and bigger and when the boy leaves he´s carrying a box with more cookies to share with his friends when they meet up in the evening.
Alicia has just started pulling out the ingredients for dinner when the door opens and Taylor enters, an amused smile on his face.
"Going soft on me, aren´t you, Reynolds couldn´t stop grinning while telling me how fantastic your baking skills were, he advised me to go and secure some cookies for myself."
He takes a handful of cookies and leans against the counter, watching as Wash chops the vegetables.
"I guess that means people haven´t noticed yet."
"About us?"
Wash asks, "perhaps he was just too scared of you to say anything."
"Maybe- I haven´t heard any rumors, though, Boylan would certainly have teased both of us nonstop if he suspected anything."
There´s silence for a while as Taylor eats more cookies and Wash continues cooking while wondering how to reply, of course it´s a good thing that their relationship has gone unnoticed so far, what they are doing is strictly forbidden and yet it´s a little unsettling to think that they might never be able to act like a couple in public.
"I can´t really decide if that´s a good thing or not" Nathaniel muses, more or less expressing Wash´s own thoughts and she relaxes, it´s reassuring that he has the same concerns she has and for now it´s enough.