Chapter 5 Nightcap
It was a short ride to Shego's place, mere minutes from the cafe'. When they arrived in the parking garage, Shego got out before John could make it to the door to open it for his patron and her guest. After stepping out she extended a graceful hand to her date, who took it with seemingly no hesitation. Shego gave a small sigh of relief at so simple a thing.
Kim stumbled out of the car, her jello filled knees giving out on her and landed in the arms of her date. Once again embarked, the hero's cheeks turned their now all to familiar crimson. The difference this time being her face was buried into Shego's strong shoulder. They both stood for moment, enjoying the proximity of the other. All to soon the moment was lost as they heard a limo door slam shut, John discreetly letting them know he was out of the car and doing is best not to intentionally intrude on there moment together.
"Will there be anything else tonight Miss Shego?" He asked, after slowly making his way around the car.
"No. Have a good night." Shego told her assistant without taking her eyes of the redhead in front of her who still had her face buried in the green woman's shoulder.
John made a swift and silent exit, leaving his patron and her guest on there own.
After a few more truly intimate moments, Kim reluctantly disengaged from the arms of the emerald goddess that caught her as Shego began to slowly guide the younger woman to the waiting elevator.
The elevator ride to the penthouse was quick, not surprising since the elevator only serviced Shego's penthouse. Shego gently guided Kim to her door, not that the younger woman needed to be guided, but they were both enjoying the proximity and it was as good as an excuse as any to stand close to one another. Once in side they made their way to the living room, Kim taking a seat on Shego's plush couch, kicking her shoes off and folding her legs up under her in the process while Shego poured the both of them a light wine for a night cap from her bar beside the couch.
"Not trying to get me drunk, are you Shego?" Kim asked playfully, sipping at her drink that the green woman placed in her hand.
Shego just smiled in response. "I'm going to go change into something more comfortable. There's a bathroom down the hall, second door on the left, If you would like to do the same." She explained before walking off, her hips swaying seductively. It wasn't until Shego had rounded the corner that Kim managed to get her mind to work again. Until that point all she could do was stare at the image of the retreating woman in front of her. Having been freed from the sirens call, the redhead finally manged to make her way to the guest bathroom to change herself.
Kim emerged to find Shego already stretched out on the couch, the fireplace lit, and soft music playing. Shego sat there looking into the fireplace thoughtfully, while sipping her wine.
"Just where am I suppose to sit?" Kim asked, taking another sip of her wine while looking over Shego's sprawled out form covered in green satin pajamas from the hallway.
"Anywhere you like princess, but I'm comfortable, and not moving." Shego told her, looking at the redhead in her purple cotton pajamas.
"That's not fair, now is it?" Kim asked making her way around the couch.
"Tough," Shego said playfully, setting her drink down on the coffee table before Kim did like wise.
"We'll if your not going to play fair, I don't have to either." Kim said, with a glint of mischief in her eye.
Shego looked at Kim in confusion. "What..." Shego began to ask but never got to finish her sentence as the young red head tackled her on the couch, mercilessly tickling her, catching Shego completely off her guard with the unconventional and unsuspected attack. As much as she tired to mount some sort of defense against Kim's nimble fingers, she couldn't. All she could do was laugh as the redhead searched to find her most ticklish spots. "All right. (giggle giggle) ALL RIGHT. (giggle giggle) I GIVE!" Shego screamed, still trying in vein to stop the red head. After a few last jabs, Kim relented, taking a now open seat next to the raven haired beauty.
"That was the lowest, dirtiest, underhanded,and evilest attack I've ever seen." Shego said in a slight huff, pulling her legs up under her and crossing her arms.
"Oh, you're just jealous you didn't think of it first." Kim affirmed with a grin in her face as stretched to take her glass of wine off the table.
"Well yeah." Shego said, while trying to get comfortable on the couch again, this time with the redhead next to her.
Once both women were settled, they sat together watching the fire and enjoying sitting together sipping there wine.
"What's your real name?" Kim asked Shego.
"What?" Shego responded, slightly confused at what Kim just asked, as she really wasn't paying attention.
"I don't know anything about you other then your wrap sheet, your time as Miss Go, and your public life with team go. I don't even know your real name. What is it?" Kim asked turning from the fire to look at Shego.
Shego thought about it for a moment and decided to tell Kim as a way of making it up for making her feel uncomfortable when she kissed her at the cafe'. "It's Charlene." She said self consciously "Charlene Susan Bladewell."
"It's beautiful." Kim confessed, much to Shego's surprise.
"I've always been a little self conscious of it." Shego admitted.
"Why?"
"Ever seen the movie Fire Starter?"
"I've heard of it, but never seen it. Why?" Kim wondered what this had to do with Shego's name.
"Well the main character was a little girl. A pyro kinetic, named Charlene, but her dad in the movie just called her Charlie, she was played by Drew Barrymore. My parents loved the movie, so when I was born, Charlene it was." Shego finished. "Kinda prophetic really."
"Oh, I still think it's a cute name." Kim beamed.
"You would. Anyway, that's why I always go by Shego. Other then my family, your probably the only one that knows my real name now." Shego told Kim.
"Really?" Kim asked, a look of mild surprise on her face. Shego just nodded, her face coloring slightly. "Thank you."
"For what?" Shego asked, unsure of why the young girl was thanking her.
"For sharing that with me. My life has been so public that there isn't much about me you probably don't know. But you? You've always been able to keep your public and private life separate."
"It wasn't easy, or cheap, but it's worth it." Shego told her.
"I could imagine but even if I wanted to, I think it's to late me now." Kim lamented, leaving both women in silence only broken by the crackling of the fire and the slow music emanating from hidden speakers throughout the room.
"Kim about that." Shego started seriously after a few minutes of silence. "You realize that what ever this is," She said gesturing between the two of them, "we won't be able to keep it private for long. I make it a point of staying out of the spot light. Mostly because the media knows what I'll do if they butt in, but they have no reservations about you. This will get out. Are you going to be OK with that?" Shego finished gently, and hopefully.
"I don't know." Kim said slumping her shoulders.
Shego decided if ever there was a time to take a chance, it was now. So she did, she put her arm around the girl and pulled her close. To her joy Kim not only didn't pull away, she cuddled in closer. Only a fool wouldn't take this as a good sign.
The two sat there for a while listening to music and sipping their wine. In the end it was Shego who broke the silence again.
"Once you decide, you need to be the one to tell your parents." Shego recommended gently.
"We'll my mom knows, I told her we were going out tonight and that I felt really weird about it. The tweebs are boys, so they'll just think it's cool. Dad...Well I think dad will just be happy it doesn't involve boys, but don't be surprised if he threatens to send you into a black whole." Kim responded quietly, leaning her head onto Shego's strong but subtle shoulder.
Shego laughed lightly at the last comment.
"Don't forget, he is a rocket scientist." Kim reminded Shego, who quickly stopped laughing.
"So what now?" Shego asked in a whisper.
Kim had to think for a moment before answering. "Well in all honesty, the kiss was nice, just a little to soon for me and I want to explore if there might be anything long term between us. I don't exactly have the best track record with relationships. Even with Ron." Kim finished with more then a little sadness in her voice.
"What happened between the two of you? Didn't you too know each other since you were in diapers or something?" Shego asked sounding genuinely interested and wanting to keep Kim talking.
"Since pre-k, it just didn't work out. He's a great guy, but..." Kim didn't know how to finish.
"Potential boy still hasn't met his potential?" Shego asked carefully.
"In some ways. He's a world class chef and has a successful restaurant, but relationship wise, still has a lot to learn. As much as I wanted to keep trying, it was just to much for me. School, my hero work, all my volunteer work. Trying to teach him about the basics of relationships was just to much."
Shego knew that no matter what she said it wouldn't be right, so she gave Kim a gentle squeeze to let her know it was OK, Kim reached across her body taking the hand that was holding her tight in her own as a way to say thank you.
The rest of the evening was spent in relative silence. The two simply sat there listening to music in front of the fire, sipping wine, and holding each other, something neither woman would have traded for the world. Until one after the other fell asleep still holding each other.
The two women slept peacefully in each others arms. If you asked either one, they would probably both told you it was the best night's sleep they had had in years.
Shego woke first, which was a surprise even to her. When she looked at the clock on the wall, it read ten, normally she never stirred till well after noon. Strangely she felt no desire to go back to sleep though, she was content to just lie there with the redhead in her arms, watching her sleep.
Little did Shego know that Kim had woken up a few minutes after her, and was laying there enjoying Shego's attention.
"Most people would say take a picture it last's longer." Kim said from behind the curtain of her red locks.
While slightly surprised, Shego didn't miss a beat in responding. "But you wouldn't?"
"No." Was all Kim said in response, her hair hiding her smile.
"Why not?" Shego asked, even though she was pretty sure she knew the answer.
"Because I like your attention." Kim said finally turning to face Shego, brushing her hair out of her face.
Shego smiled at Kim's words. Not her usual smirk, but a full fledged smile. Shego knew she didn't have anything to say that could match Kim's comment, instead she decided the only thing she could think of to match Kim's comment, she moved in to kiss Kim. She went slowly, making it obvious what her intent was, giving Kim every chance to tell her no, or move away. To her great pleasure, Kim did neither, laying there waiting. Shego closed the short distance and laid a passionate, but gentle kiss on Kim's waiting lips. The redhead returned the soft kiss with as much as enthusiasm. As brief as it was, both found it pure bliss.
"Wow." Were the only words Kim could find to describe the wash of emotions that the kiss inspired.
"Yeah." Shego could only agree. Despite all the different people Shego had kissed, there was no doubt in her mind that this was the best kiss she had ever had, or might ever have.
Kim and Shego laid there looking into each others eye's for what seemed like hours, though in reality it was only a few minutes.
"I could do this all day, but I'm getting hungry." Shego told Kim, the younger woman's stomach growling in response, causing both women to giggle. "So are you apparently." Both women giggled again. "Lets get up and I'll make you breakfast." She told the redhead, who just nodded in agreement.
Despite the lack of blankets it took a couple of minutes for the women to extract themselves from each other, Kim ending up on the floor in the end. Causing another round of giggling from the pair.
Shego stood up and extended her hand to Kim, who gratefully took it. "This is so weird." Shego told Kim.
"What?" Kim asked, a smile on her face.
"This. Me and you, and the fact that it's making me feel like a school girl." She said happily, letting her emotions show.
"I know what you mean." Kim agreed.
"What are you talking about? You are a school girl." Shego poked at the girl. Kim just stuck out her tongue. "Point proven I think." Shego retorted playfully before heading for the kitchen with the the heroin in tow.
"So what are you making us for breakfast? More omelets?" Kim asked hopefully.
"Nope. Something special." Shego said pulling out some eggs, and a large cast iron skillet, after rounding the kitchens large island.
"What?" Kim asked sitting down at the breakfast bar of the island to watch Shego cook.
"A German pancake." Shego said simply.
"German pancakes?" Kim asked slightly confused.
"Nope. Just watch and learn." Shego suggested, before breaking and separating a dozen eggs into two bowls. Turning on the oven, she sliced a pad of butter in the pan, setting the closest burner on low, and set the skillet on the stove to heat up. Then pulled out a whisk and began mixing the whites into a fluffy meringue. Quickly moving on to the yolks, and adding a little corn starch, mixing it into a quick custard. Once Shego was happy with the results she slowly folded the yolks into the whites, creating a light yellow mix, which she pored into the now warm skillet, before carefully setting the skillet in the oven. Without an oven mitt Kim noticed.
"Isn't that hot?" Kim asked, slightly concerned.
"A bit." Was all Shego replied, so used to heat not really bothering her, that she forgot that this was very much not the norm.
"Doesn't it hurt?" Kim asked again.
"Oh, no." Shego finally realized what Kim was trying to get at, after closing the oven she continued. "While my powers won't protect me from open flame, other then my own anyway, it does help me ignore some minor heat." She said sitting down next to Kim.
"So when's breakfast?" Kim asked.
"It'll only take a few minutes to cook. A German pancake it more about preparation then actual cooking." Shego responded.
"I noticed. So why is it called a German pancake? Looks like an omelet to me." Kim returned.
"You know something, I really don't know. It's not a pancake at all, its a souffle But that's what I was told it was called when I learned to make it." Shego just shrugged.
"Weird." Kim said in return.
"I know. What are you going to do." She said rhetorically while getting up to check her souffle Deciding it was done enough, she shut the oven off and set it on pot holder on the counter. Shego carefully cut it up and placed a large piece on two plates before pulling out some powered sugar, a small sieve, and a lemon.
"What's all that for, isn't a souffle just eggs?" Kim asked.
"You really don't know anything about cooking, do you Kimmy?"
"Not really. I can cook enough to feed myself but something like that," Kim said pointing at the souffle, "Is way out of my skill set."
"I figured. These are what make a German pancake what it is, and not just another souffle" Shego said putting a little powdered sugar into the sieve, and gently bumping it over both plates. Lightly dusting both with sugar, before cutting the lemon in half and squeezing a little juice over both plates.
Shego gently placed a plate in front of Kim, sitting down next to the redhead with her own plate. Shego took a bite of her breakfast, while watching for Kim's reaction as she did the same.
Kim's eye's widened in surprise as the flavors played over her tongue. "This is delicious. It literally melts in your mouth, and the flavors, wow. That was not what I was expecting at all."
"So it's good?" Shego asked playfully.
Kim's response was to take another bite. Both savored the taste of the laborious and calorie filled meal, finishing what Shego had made. "That was good Charlie." Kim replied.
"Thanks." Shego said before she realized what Kim had called her. Once she did, she had to stop and consider it, which did not go unnoticed by Kim.
"I hope it's OK?" Kim asked. "I mean, I know you prefer Shego, but it doesn't seem to fit you anymore. At least not to me." Kim said with all sincerity, putting a hand on Shego's.
Shego thought about it for another minute. "I think, considering that you let me call you Kimmy, Pumpkin, Cupcake, and pretty much what ever I want, It's only fair. All I ask is that you only call me that when it's just me and you. I'm still not a huge fan of my name." Shego said, her face coloring for only the third time that Kim has known her.
"I maintain that it's cute and it fits you." Kim said genuinely. "But I have no problem with those terms." Kim agreed. Being bold for the first time she leaned in to initiate her first kiss between the two of them. A kiss she was quickly finding to be extremely addictive. "I like the idea of being the only one that gets to call you that." Kim said with a smile.
Shego couldn't help but smile, then it hit her. She knew she no longer had any hope. The raven haired beauty was falling for the redhead. Never before had she ever felt this way, normally it was about basic pleasure for her. Sure she had had some meaningfully relationships, but even going into those, she knew she wouldn't have, or want, anything very long term. Normally she only expected her relationships to last a few months, at most. In her heart she knew she never wanted these feelings, this relationship, to end the way those had.
She must have been sitting there with blank stare for while because Kim asked her what she was thinking about and she was pretty sure Kim had asked more then once.
"Oh sorry Cupcake, my mind decided to derail itself." Shego said, trying to deflect the question. But Kim was having none of it.
"About what?" Kim continued to inquire, moving a stray hair out of Shego's eyes.
Shego decided that it should be safe to share her thoughts with Kim. All her intuition told her even if Kim didn't return her feelings, which she was pretty sure she did, Kim wouldn't use anything she said against her in public. If she was wrong, then Kim wasn't worth being with. She really, really hopped she wasn't wrong.
"To be honest, I've never felt like this before." She said shyly, something neither of them would have thought she could be.
Kim new that Shego was bearing part of her soul, so she made sure to listen intently, giving Shego her undivided attention. Acutely aware that if she didn't, or accidentally made fun of Shego, it would probably cause the green woman to close up, possibly for the rest of her life. Doing her best to reassure the hesitant woman, she placed her small peach colored hand atop the raven haired beauty's strong green tinted one again, squeezing it tightly.
"I'm not sure..." Shego tried to continued, still in an unusually shy voice.
Kim knew that in some circumstances, actions spoke louder then words, and that this was one of those times. So instead of trying to tell Shego that she knew, and shared how she felt, she opted to use her actions to speak. Kim wrapped her arms around Shego placing a long gentle kiss on her lips.
In that instant, those special few seconds that Kim pressed her lips against Shego's, the ebony haired woman knew that Kim shared and returned all the feelings that she didn't know how to express. She honestly didn't want to be anywhere else then where she was, with anyone other then who she was with. She just smiled and leaned forward and placed her forehead on Kim's, looking down into the younger woman's eyes, trying to read what Kim's reaction might be to what she wanted to say. The ginger girl stared back, looking as intently back into the emerald orbs as they were into her olive
"I should probably call John to give you a ride back to your car." Shego said with more then a little regret while slowly pulling away.
"Nah, I'll just tell the girls to meet me here." Kim said after all of half a second, pulling out her kimmunicator, and typing off a quick text message. "They'll be here in a few minutes." Kim said knowing it to be the truth. "So lets enjoy them." Kim said standing up, taking Shego's hand, and heading back to the living room.
The duo sat back on the couch. Shego first, Kim settling in next to her while she wrapper her arm tightly around her red head. At that moment, she knew that Kim was her's, for as long as she treated her like the princess that she was. The two spent there last few minutes in each other arms before Kim's phone went off, signaling that her ride was here.
"Next week?" Shego asked.
"Can't." Kim's voice showing her sadness at having to say the word. "I have midterms. But the week after, I'm all yours." Kim said with her voice letting Shego know that she meant every word.
Shego lead Kim to the door, and opened it for the red head, before leaning against the door frame as Kim wrapped her arms around the exotic green woman's neck while she wrapped her own around the redheads waist. "I've been meaning to ask you," Kim started, "With your reputation and your record, how did you manage to get the penthouse?" Kim asked looking into Shego's jade orbs.
"Oh, that's easy. It was mine." Shego said matter-a-factly, but noticed that Kim hadn't made the connection she wanted her to. Sighing she lengthened her explanation. "I bought the building when I was on team go, and have always kept the penthouse for my own use." She said as if it were the simplest thing in the world.
"Why didn't they try to confiscate it?" Kim asked surprised.
"Simple, it was bought legally and was never used in the commission of a crime, or hiding from a crime. It's also in my legal name, which I've told you, only you and my family know. So even if they wanted to confiscate it, they'd have to find it first." Shego said while shrugging her shoulders.
"Oh." Was all Kim said, not really caring, just wanting to hear the older woman talk. After a few minutes of looking into Shego's eyes while standing in the woman's door, she knew it was time to go. "I'm going to go Charlie." Kim told her, then stood up on her toes to kiss Shego. This kiss was long, but still gentle. Neither was in a rush to end the physical contact, but all to soon it was over.
"I'm going to go." Kim said kissing Shego again.
"You said that already." Shego jibbed playfully, kissed Kim again.
"Alright Charlie, I'm going. I'll see you in two weeks." Kim finally forced herself to break away from the green woman, slowly walking down the corridor to the elevator.
Shego stood in her door watching Kim's hips sway back and forth as the shapely redhead made her way to the elevator.