A/N: I know I have been a bit absent lately, but I'd like to reassure everybody that I'm alive and well, it's just I've been working on another story that isn't coming along the pace I expected it to, so I'm a bit stuck with it – and that's why I decided to take a little break from that, and put something else together in the meantime.

Shower for Two

They almost literally bump into each other in front of the bathroom door, both clutching little bags of toiletries in their hands, towels under their arms, awkward smiles plastered on their faces.

They are in Denmark, investigating what might be left-behind Asgardian tech in a small town near the German border, and, for the sake of convenience, they are lodging in town. Coulson found the place – it's a little, family-owned guesthouse, basically nothing more than a couple of rooms to be rented on the upper floor, but this is the best a town that barely sees tourists can offer. And it's really nice and has that cozy village-feeling – that's the best way Skye could describe it – you can't really get in the States, but it does have a small flaw: it only has one bathroom.

They do this silly little dance in front of the bathroom for a couple of moments – a play of exaggerated courtesy, both of them offering to let the other take the bathroom first (he just wants to shave, it's nothing important; she can wait half an hour with her shower, really), before she lets out an exasperated sigh and puts her foot down.

"Look, it's not like we haven't seen each other naked," she points out; and they have – repeatedly, pleasurably. "And I wasn't planning on monopolizing the sink – I'm sure we can share."

He looks unsure at first, but then the slightest smile tugs at his lips, and he opens the door for her.

"After you."

He takes the sink, taking out his razor and shaving foam, while she steps to the chair by the opposite wall and puts her stuff down on it. Their eyes meet in the mirror as she starts to strip, and yes, it is a bit strange.

So they have had sex – in Dublin for the first time, a little over a week ago, and a couple of more times ever since, once in her bunk, twice in his, once in the back seat of the SUV, and once in a place no-one else on the team should know about, and they are sort of in a relationship, but still, it's a little bit… strange, what they are doing now. It goes beyond the level of intimacy of sex somehow, maybe because she undresses with him watching, and there's nothing sexual about it. It's just, well, it's almost domestic.

Still, she feels his eyes on her as she steps into the tub, and she can even see the razor still in his hand for a moment. She smiles, and she is almost sure she blushes a bit, although she doesn't know why. It's just him and her, and it's nothing he hasn't seen before.

For a moment she thinks about whether she should draw the shower curtain or not, but then she leaves it open – a small courtesy to him, or maybe an attempt to tease him, she is not sure –, then she turns around and starts the water, letting the drops hit her face and soak her hair.

She soaps up her body first, using her usual body wash, and as she runs the foamy loofah over her legs and abdomen, she can't help but wonder – does Grant even love the scent of it? Maybe it's a bit too strong – spicy and vivid and demanding to be felt. But he hasn't mentioned anything about it – they haven't talked about things like this. He has talked about wanting her, desiring her for a long time, and she is almost sure that he has said explicitly that she is beautiful, but the details… They haven't explored the details yet.

Well, he has a nice scent, her mind follows on the thought. Something that reminds her of wood smoke and old bourbon and soft, freshly washed sheets. Part of it comes from a small, nondescript bottle she has seen a couple of time on his shelf in his bunk, but part of it is his natural scent – it is always stronger after training or sex. She likes it, and after that one time when he slept in her bunk, his scent remained on her pillow for hours.

Her body washed, she reaches for the shampoo – only as she is about to squeeze some into her palm, the bottle is taken from her.

"Let me," he says, suddenly standing right behind her. She didn't notice him moving, but he did, and now he is in the tub with her, as naked as she is, his presence envelops her, and he is putting shampoo into the palm of his hand.

He lifts her hair carefully, almost as if he was afraid to touch her, and massages the shampoo into her locks and scalp gently. Skye braces her hands on the tiles.

He has magic hands – not that she hasn't known this before –, and it feels nice to have them on her, have his fingers tangled in her hair as he works on her curls. She closes her eyes in pleasure.

"You have such beautiful hair," she hears him say. "It was the second thing I noticed about you, did you know that? The first was your eyes." He speaks calmly, evenly, his tone warm; it's soothing, like a mug of hot cocoa on a cold night. "I wondered, for a longest time, whether it was as soft as it looked."

Her lips curl into a gentle smile.

"You should have just asked."

"I know – now. Rinse."

She starts the water again and he helps the foam out, shaking her curls loose, the wet strands almost reaching the small of her back. When she stops the water and hands him the conditioner, he takes it without a word.

"And I used to think about how would it feel to kiss you," she confesses softly. "Even back in Peru, when I really wasn't supposed think about such things." She more like feels than hears him chuckle. "You were so… harsh on the outside, but there were those fleeting little moments when you let me see the softness underneath. And that intrigued me. I wanted to know more."

The drops of water drum on the floor of the bathtub; there's a moment of silence before he speaks again, although his hands never stop moving.

"I was afraid that you'd break me – or that I'd break you."

She turns around; looks into his eyes and takes his hands, weaving their fingers together.

"But you won't."

They seal that promise with a kiss.