Breakfast and Baggage

Dany woke up with a start, wondering at the noise she'd just heard. There it was again - a loud shout of anguish - not from the street but here in her flat. 'Jon?'

She was up out of bed in a flash, opening her door to find the dogs were also awake, looking at the door to the spare room in confusion. Dany pushed passed them to find Jon thrashing around in his bed, yelling incoherently, and she moved to sit on the edge, placing her hands on his bare shoulders and shaking him gently.

"Jon … wake up."

He sat up abruptly, making her jump, his dark eyes open but unseeing, his face full of terror as he breathed heavily, gasping for air. He wasn't wearing a shirt but, for once, Dany was not gaping at him in lust but horror as she saw numerous vicious scars decorating his torso.

"No!" he yelled, still caught up in his nightmare.

"Jon, you're safe," she reassured him. "Wake up now, I'm here. It's okay."

His breath hitched and he shuddered before blinking, his head finally turning towards her. "Dany? What …?"

"It was just a nightmare," she said. "It's all right."

"Sorry I …"

"Hush."

She lifted a hand up to stroke his face and then, to her surprise, Jon leant forwards and buried his head against her shoulder, shaking violently, and she wrapped her arms around him and held him close, thinking of nothing more than offering him comfort. He drew in another shuddering breath and she realised, to her dismay, that he was now crying. Instinct just took over then and she rocked him gently, one arm still around his shoulder, whilst her other hand stroked his hair.

"Ssh," she said, leaning her head down to kiss the top of his head. "It's all right."

After a little while he pulled away, looking mortified. "Sorry."

"Don't be silly. Can I get you something? Some water perhaps?" She started to rise but he caught her wrist again.

"No. Please don't go."

"All right."

"Stay?" He lifted the duvet, his eyes pleading. "I'll be good, I promise. I just don't … want to be alone after that."

Dany had slipped into bed next to him before she'd really thought about what she was doing. It was a warm night and she was only wearing skimpy night shorts and a thin, strapped vest, and Jon was just in his boxers, but he obviously only wanting comforting and she was feeling a little hung over so she wasn't especially concerned. As she lay down with her back to him, Jon moved closer, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her against his chest whilst resting his head against hers. The move made her gasp, her own hands finding his forearms and revelling in the press of his body against hers.

"My Dany," he mumbled, kissing her head, and she shuddered at the way he'd said her name and sudden thrill of excitement that it caused her. But her head was now pounding and that brief burst of desire was replaced with a lovely feeling of calm and rare security. She fell asleep almost immediately.

~o~0~o~

Dany half woke at some point in the early hours when Jon tightened his arms and pressed himself up against her again, obviously still mostly asleep. In much the same state herself she responded enthusiastically, wriggling her bottom and enjoying the feel of him hard against her.

"Oh ..." He froze. "S-sorry."

"Don't be silly," she mumbled, rolling over to face him with her eyes still closed, her breathing slowing down until she fell back asleep. Some time passed before she woke again, this time to the lovely sound of Jon whispering her name.

"Dany." His voice sounded slightly strangled and she fluttered her eyes open to find his face quite close to hers and his eyes screwed shut as if in pain.

"What's wrong?"

"C-can you … You need to adjust your top." He swallowed hard. "Please."

She glanced down and realised that one of her vest straps had slipped off her shoulder exposing quite a bit of her breasts. Her nipples had just about remained covered but, seeing just how thin this top was, it certainly didn't leave very much to the imagination.

"Oops," she said, more amused than embarrassed. "You can open your eyes now."

His gaze flicked back down and then quickly back up to her eyes, his cheeks now nicely pink. "It's a bit thin."

"At least I'm wearing something," she retorted. " Why should I cover up when you're tempting me with those lovely abs of yours?"

"Oh and ..." Jon pulled up the duvet, belatedly realising that she would now also have seen his scars.

"We've a free pass on past baggage, remember?"

He nodded, eyes down. "I'm sorry about last night and ah … this morning and ..."

"Stop it, Jon. You've nothing to be embarrassed about. I have nightmares too so I understand how that goes and as for the other ..." She grinned. "Well, I've certainly no complaints here."

He chuckled. "A nice way to wake up?"

"Yes, and I gave you an interesting view just now too."

He licked his lips. "A very nice way to wake up."

"And I'm curious as to how long you waited before you decided to ask me to move."

"Dany! I … woke you up straight away, of course, and ..." Jon saw her smirk and relaxed, realising she was teasing him. "And I've completely forgotten what you looked like. No way is that gorgeous image of you seared onto my brain or anything."

She giggled before they both turned serious and Jon leant towards her for a gentle kiss which inevitably refused to remain that way. Dany gasped, wriggling closer, one hand grabbing at his hair whilst his caressed her cheek. The kiss deepened further becoming gradually more desperate and Dany started to forget about last night's promise to take things slowly.

The buzz of Jon's phone saved them and he pulled away from her as if burnt as he turned to answer it.

"Davos, hi." She could hear that his boss was speaking but it was far too quiet to make out the words. "Yes, of course. I'll be in soon." Jon's gaze turned to her and he winced. "Ah … yeah, I'm ... not at home this morning." He pulled a face as the conversation continued. "Ah, I'm really not sure why you would think that." Jon was still looking at her, now perhaps a little embarrassed. "Okay, I'll ask her."

She raised an eyebrow at him as he finished the call. "A cat's been brought in and needs medical treatment. Davos is on his own there so wants me to take him to the emergency vet on the other side of town."

"Of course. And?"

"He tried my home number and then, well, he assumed I was with you."

"Did he now?"

"Well yes, and I am, of course, but ..." Jon shook his head. "Anyway, he asked if you'd like to come in." His frown grew deeper. "Said to tell you it is always very quiet at this time on a Sunday."

She smiled at that. "I told him what I told you. That I get anxious around crowds of people I don't know."

"Okay." He shrugged, getting out of bed, apparently perfectly aware that that was only part of the truth "Baggage. Right."

Well, at least they'd come to some understanding about that, and at least Dany had got her kiss before Jon found out the rest. Well two kisses and both as hot as hell. She smiled, stretching at the memory.

"Please don't do that."

She giggled, realising she'd just given him another interesting view. "I'll go dress and then fix us some food?"

"Just coffee for me, please. We can grab breakfast on the way back from the vets. Better get the little mite some attention quickly."

~o~0~o~

She handed Jon the mug and a banana as he came out of the room with his ruck-sac. "You should know better than to go out with no breakfast," she scolded.

"Good point," he agreed, taking it and then looking at her choice of clothes. "Nice hat."

"You like?" she asked in a rather too bright voice.

She had often thought to dye her unique hair but could somehow never bring herself to do it, opting instead to pull it up under a large, floppy hat, especially on days when she couldn't bring the dogs along with her. She was such a mass of contradictions. Was she proud of her past or not? Did she want anonymity or not? Her therapists had always had a field day with that part of her personality, although her current one was better than most. 'Never forget what you are for the world will not.'

The shelter was close enough to walk to and Jon only lived on the other side of the park anyway, so hadn't brought his car. Halfway there he took her hand and she smiled up at him, enjoying the comfort of the gesture. The quiet thrill of it.

"Ah, there you are, Jon," Davos said as they entered. "Good morning, Miss Storm."

"Dany," she reminded him.

"Ah, yes, of course." They both caught Jon's brief frown at the exchange. "You'll excuse me for making assumptions but, after seeing both of your reactions to your … disagreement, I began to suspect there was something else going on there and, well, I thought I'd try to help out." He smiled brightly. "I believe it's called Shipping, yes?"

Dany laughed. "I think that's just for the TV shows."

"Oh, really?" he replied, giving her a very pointed look.

She pulled a face. "Apparently."

"Anyway," he continued with a big smile. "I'm pleased to see that you two have made up."

Dany glanced at Jon who just rolled his eyes. "So, where's the patient?" he asked.

"Out the back and ready to go. He's not critical, but the vet is expecting him within the hour."

Jon nodded and took her hand again, leading her down a corridor and into one of the rooms. "That's a cat?" he joked as he took note of the huge, white, long-haired cat staring forlornly at them from a large pet carrier.

"Wow," Dany agreed. "What were you saying about 'little mite'? He's bigger than most dogs."

"Not yours though."

She laughed as Jon went to pick up the carrier, grumbling at the weight of it. The cat meowed in response, somehow managing to sound incredibly offended and Dany couldn't help but laugh at both of their reactions.

There had been no real reason for her to come along this morning, she supposed, but it was a good excuse to spend longer in Jon's company and get to see a little of the work he did here. The vet was a large, jolly fellow called Sam who obviously recognised her - his eyes widening as he glanced between the two of them - but, fortunately, he didn't question Jon about her presence, keen to look after his patient and make sure the paper work was all signed.

Then it was just a matter of driving back - stopping at a road-side café for some late breakfast - before checking back in with Davos to see if Jon was needed for anything else.

"There you are, Snow!" Dany jumped as a young man strode in through the door and strode confidently over to the three of them who were talking quietly at the main desk. "Don't you ever look at your phone?"

Jon shrugged. "I saw you left a text this morning, yes, but Davos had an emergency case I needed to deal with."

"Yes, because us getting kicked out of the flat because of overdue rent is not at all important."

"What?" Jon suddenly seemed more concerned. "Did I not leave you the money?"

"No you didn't, because you've been even more distracted and brooding than usual and ..." He glanced only briefly in her direction before smirking. "… and now I'm beginning to understand why, and why you didn't come home last night?"

Jon winced. "Ah, Gendry this is Dany."

The young man looked closer and frowned. "Dany? Have we met before?"

"I don't believe so," she said, glancing nervously at Davos who winced.

"I've got some money on me now," Jon said, taking out his wallet and giving Davos and Dany a chance to throw a warning glance at Gendry as the young man began to realise where he recognised her from. The two both very slowly shook their heads, hoping that he'd get the message and Gendry's jaw dropped as he finally caught up.

"You have got to be kidding me?" he said, now staring at her, aghast.

Jon shrugged as he handed over a few notes, assuming his friend was talking about the lack of money. "Sorry, I'll stop off at the cash point on the way home and get the rest."

Gendry shook his head, still struggling to come to terms with everything, and Dany held her breath, wondering what would happen now. "So … Dany ... have you known Jon for long?"

"Not very long, no," she replied. "We've just started dating really."

"Ah, right, and did you know that he's never watched any sci-fi or fantasy stuff?"

She nodded. "Until last night."

"Oh?"

"I watched 'Lord of the Rings'," Jon said, proudly.

"What, all of it?" Gendry asked, smirking

"First film, ah ..."

"Fellowship of the Ring?"

"Yeah. It was better than I'd expected."

"You need to get him to watch some TV shows next, Dany," Gendry continued. "Like … Magical Menagerie, for example?"

"Yes," she said, her eyes willing him to behave. "That one's next on the list."

"Well, I can't wait to tell your cousin," Gendry crowed, turning to Jon with a grin.

"You leave Arya out of this," Jon complained.

"What? You expect me not to tell her that you've found a beautiful girlfriend who's also managed to convert her heathen cousin to fantasy?"

"Although, to be fair," Davos said, "she might not believe that it was the fantasy alone that converted him."

"True, true."

"You guys are impossible," Jon complained. "I came south to avoid all of this teasing."

"Just trying to help with the homesickness," Gendry retorted. "Right, I'll deal with this rent now and yes, Snow, I do need the rest of it by tomorrow otherwise I won't be able to afford to eat."

"Here," she said, getting out her purse. "How much does he owe?"

"Dany, no," Jon complained.

"What? You said you're going to the cash-point … you can pay me back then."

"Another fifty," Gendry said and then shrugged when Jon glared at him. "What? I'm sure you can find numerous, interesting ways to pay the girl back." He smirked as she handed over the notes. "Thanks, Daenerys. Bye, Davos."

Dany winced, not daring to look at Jon in case he questioned the name Gendry had casually called her by. "I really had better get back to the dogs." She risked a look up at Jon then. "You coming with me?"

"I suppose I don't need to go back home now," he replied. "I'll just go to the bank and then meet you back at your flat?"

"Nonsense, pay me back later." She smirked, dropping her voice to a whisper. "One way or another."

~o~0~o~

A/N: A few other characters mentioned in passing but, as I said, this fic has a very small cast and will continue to focus on Dany and Jon. You might be interested to know that the next chapter is called 'Magical Menagerie' and will finally address most aspects of Dany's past. :)

Send positive vibes please. Christmas and a nasty cold has left me exhausted and I've done zero new writing. Luckily I'm well ahead in both fics but my cushion in getting thinner and I will need to do some serious writing this week to get myself back to a position where I start feeling comfortable again.