Jane woke to the feeling of something heavy and warm draping itself over her middle. The only light filtering through the curtains came from the night-bright city below, and she had no real means to gauge how long she'd been asleep. The weight, which her sluggish brain identified as a muscular arm, tightened around her and pulled her back until she was flush against him.
She was vaguely surprised he was still there - and wondered distantly if perhaps she should be the one to go - but he was tucked snugly around her so she let the slow pattern of his breathing lull her to sleep again.
It was sometime later when she came back to herself fully. The sheets still smelled of him, but his side of the bed was empty and cool. Jane stretched and looked for a clock of some sort, but there were none that she could readily see. The sun, however, was well into the sky. She stood up and arched her back; Dragon kept the muscles of her core and thighs fairly toned, but some of her… less exercised muscles were a touch sore.
Although not unpleasantly so.
A quick investigation of the bedroom and living space (and shit, this place was big! Was she expected to pay for this suite as well?! It had to cost a fortune!) revealed she truly was alone - a condition she had every intention of taking advantage of.
If she was going to make the dreaded walk of shame - (though she was in no way sorry for the previous night's activities) - or worse, engage in some awkward morning-after conversation - she was at least going to do so clean.
She returned to the bedroom, found the shower - which was roughly the size of her entire master bathroom - turned on the water as hot as she could stand it, and let it wash away any residual stiffness.
After a long, long time - she might have actually fallen asleep under the spray at one point - she padded out of the bathroom, toweling her hair dry. Picking out the little pearls with her fingers had been a chore, but it felt good to be back to her plain, unadorned self.
Just Jane. Her lips quirked at the thought.
She cast about for her dress - but it wasn't until she saw the explosion of scattered scales that she remembered it had been most thoroughly destroyed - and then felt the unmistakable flush of arousal as she remembered how.
A fittingly epic ending for an undeniably epic gown.
She toed at the puddle of still-shimmering fabric on the floor. The man had cost her God only knew how much money - and had wrecked the single most expensive garment she owned into the bargain.
Unapologetically. Glibly.
And she found that she really couldn't bring herself to be sorry.
However - she had to wear something. And since he'd rendered her own attire completely unviable, thank you ever so much, the least he could do was… share.
She crossed to the dresser and pulled it open, then laughed to find that not one drawer, not two, but the entire thing was filled with geeky tee-shirts. Each was emblazoned with the colorful design of one fandom or another - except for those that had been washed so often they were faded and threadbare. She took her time choosing and eventually settled on a well-worn Stranger Things t-shirt; the demogorgon talons were spread in invitation, apparently offering "free hugs" to unwitting victims.
Jane wondered if when Gunther wore this shirt, women overcame the picture to wrap their arms around him.
The idea made her just the slightest bit jealous.
Her underwear were, as she had expected, a complete loss, so she scrounged around until she found a pair of his boxer briefs. She doubted he'd be much offended by her thievery. And if he was, well, too bad.
Clothed, in at least a rudimentary fashion, Jane wandered out into the living area to find her clutch. She dug out her phone to see if she had missed any calls when - Dear Lord - how many times had Pepper called?
Or texted?
Or em-
Jane wondered if perhaps Pepper needed an escort of her own, to help relieve some of her apparently boundless energy.
Without bothering to peruse the myriad texts - it was far too early for any real reading comprehension - she found Pepper's number and hit send.
Pepper picked up on the first ring.
"Good morning, Pepper. You called -" Jane turned her phone and squinted at the notifications, "- a lot?"
"Um… yes, uh," there was an unusual tinge of uncertainty in Pepper's voice. "I just wanted to see how your evening ...went. It must be almost lunchtime there - was everything alright?"
"Yeah." Jane yawned, and looked longingly back at the bed. She could easily go for another hour or two of sleep. No, no. Jane needed water; maybe some sort of sustenance. Then she could think about crawling back into bed. When was checkout time? "It didn't start off so well - I had a really hard time just walking into the hotel, but after a few false starts it was rather ...pleasurable."
"Oh?" Pepper sounded oddly reticent - cagey even - like she was fishing for information. She was probably dying to know how Jane's date had been. "It went okay, then?"
"Yeah, you could say that. I mean, it was terribly awkward at first, but the escort you got me was well worth whatever fortune he cost. Jesus Christ I've never seen such a beautiful man."
"Wait - what?" Pepper sounded confused. Shocked, even. The thought that Jane might actually sleep with the man had probably never crossed her mind.
"Oh like you can judge me - it was your idea, after all. I am going to be sore for a week and I don't even care." Jane wandered over to where her gown still lay in lay in a ruined puddle. "But I am going to need another dress."
"I - you - what?" Pepper took a deep breath. "Explain."
"My dragonscale dress. It has been well and thoroughly slain. There are little scales everywhere."
"Petal, you- you slept with an escort?"
Jane snorted. "I wouldn't say there was much sleeping - I think I came more times last night than in the entire time I dated Algernon."
"I don't understand - did you call the escort service?"
Jane was tired - possibly a touch hungover - and she had a hard time following Pepper's odd line of questioning. "No dear, you did, remember?"
"I didn't, though."
"Of course you did."
"But, Petal - you seemed so uncertain - so desperately uncomfortable with the idea, I never made the reservation."
"Very funny, Pepper."
"I'm being dead serious, Jane. I figured you'd get in there, mingle a bit, think the escort stood you up, and be relieved enough not to care either way. Then when Algae made his bullshit grand entrance, you'd either bail or stick around. I was betting on stick around - you can be as stubborn as a mule when you want to be - But I never made the reservation."
"But I did meet him, Pepper. I- he- at the bar, with a rose."
"Jane, believe me - I would not lie to you about this. I never made the call. NEVER. I've been trying to reach you all morning, to apologize."
Now it was Jane who was thoroughly confused.
If Pepper wasn't teasing her - a questionable premise at best - then who-?
Jane studied her surroundings. The style of the room was still art deco, but softened, and there were personal touches here and there. One wall sported a collection of what appeared to be antique swords. Another held a shelf decorated with tiny little figurines. "But… but… then who the hell did I -? Pepper, are you sure you aren't messing with me? I walked up to him and took his rose."
Gasping, gagging sounds came from Jane's phone - for a second Jane was ready to hang up and call Pepper's hotel for a medic - suddenly worried that her friend was choking to death an ocean away, and she was helpless to prevent it - and then she realized Pepper was laughing at her. Laughing hard. So hard she wasn't able to get in a full breath, had probably moved the phone away from her ear.
Jane knew from experience that it would take Pepper some time to get herself back under control. As she waited, she continued to stare about herself in complete stupefaction. What had she done, what had she done, what had she done, what had she done -
"Jane," Pepper managed at length, "are you telling me you picked up some random man, - no - the MOST attractive man at the party - told him he was your prostitute, and then proceeded -" she was practically wheezing - "to make very good use of him?"
"I- " Jane looked around, her eyes wide as saucers. "I think I did."
Her flat, horrified pronouncement sparked yet another round of incredulous laughter from an ocean away. "I knew... you had... it in you," Pepper gasped, sounding almost in pain. "Oh, Jane… oh, honey… you... deflowered him!"
"Hardly… wait. Oh." Pepper and her goddamn puns. Jane couldn't keep up with this shit right now.
"Thank you, Pepper," she said in her dryest tone, "That is so helpful."
"I can't - oh, my - Okay," Pepper took a deep breath before she continued on, calmer, but no less amused. "Where are you now, Jane? Are you safe?"
"Yes. I -" Jane walked over to the wide windows and studied the view. The buildings were all familiar, and she didn't remember leaving the hotel. They'd gone through the kitchen and straight up the service elevator. Hadn't they? "I'm still in the hotel." She looked again; she seemed terribly high up. "I think I'm in the penthouse."
"The Kippernium doesn't have a penthouse."
"Sure it does. I can see in all four directions. Well three - but four if you count the bedroom."
Pepper made a few more strangled sounds. "I am telling you, it does not. The top floors are private residences, Jane."
Her eyes were drawn back to the collection of swords. He had mentioned a love of antique weaponry, hadn't he? The little figurines - no - game pieces. For Dungeons and Dragons. And - holy shit - the entire dresser of adorably nerdy tee-shirts. If this were a hotel room, would he have brought so many casual clothes for a professional encounter? Unlikely.
There was a long drawn out silence as the pieces clicked into place and she tried to grasp the gravity of her situation. Jane stared down at the shirt she'd chosen - the demogorgon mocked her with its sly, toothy smile. "Pepper, what have I done?"
"Dearest, I think the real question is who."
Suddenly and completely overwhelmed, Jane squeezed her eyes shut, blocking out her surroundings, the suite that wasn't a suite, that was actually - God oh God - someone's home.
Massaging her temple with the fingers of her free hand, she swallowed hard. Her throat clicked dryly.
Water - she needed water.
She'd started to drift toward the little wet bar where he'd tended to her hand last night, when Pepper's steadily rising voice broke through her muddled thoughts.
"-AME?!"
"What? Sorry... I was thinking." Jane pulled a glass from the cupboard and filled it in the sink. "Is it possible for someone to fuck you stupid?"
"Yes, absolutely it is - and I'm getting more jealous by the second. What I asked was - dear Lord I am never going to recover from this - What was his name?" Pepper nearly screeched the last bit.
"It was..." Jane took a drink and set her cup down to pinch the bridge of her nose in concentration. She was distracted by a flare of pain from her hand. Confused - boy she really was out of it - she frowned down at her scabbed, bruised knuckles. "I can't remember."
"You didn't even get his name?!" There was a beat of shocked silence before Pepper continued seriously, "I have never been so proud of you as I am in this moment."
Jane raked her free hand through her hair. "Yeah, well you should have seen me punch Algernon in the face."
"YOU WHAT?!"
Jane groaned. "Why are you yelling?"
"You punched - oh sweet skipping Christ the press - fuck - fuck - FUCK - all right, we'll come back to that. His name, Jane. Did you get it or not?"
"Of course I got his name. It was..." she took a deep breath, attempting to clear the cobwebs. "Guuh - Gunther something."
There was a long drawn out noise on the the other end of the line - somewhere between a gasp and a squeal, the sound reverberating painfully through her skull.
"Gunther Br-" but Pepper was interrupted when the elevator doors made their polite ding! and slid open.
"Um - Pepper, someone just came into the room - I gotta call you back."
"NO, JANE! Don't hang up! I have to tell yo-"
But Jane had already ended the call.