Rick gingerly sat on the edge of the couch, watching Carl play with Judith on the living room floor. He looked at his watch for what he felt like was the millionth time.
Carl caught sight of his father as he patted his hands on lap, stood up, and paced around. "Dad, you need to chill. The sun just set. Maybe she came back and is already helping Olivia put things away."
Judith cooed as backup, adding one more wooden block to a tower with a precarious foundation.
"Same day supply runs are pointless. How are you supposed to scrounge around in that short period of time? As least for a multi day trip, it delays the –" Rick caught himself as his pacing resulted in him being face to face with the front door, as a pang of an underlying feeling caught up with him. –worry."
"She went with Spencer, he's new to this. They're probably just taking their time."
"I bet they are. Spencer can go fu—" Rick caught himself, for the sake of Judith, his eyes on his daughter.
The gossip mill of Alexandria tabbed Spencer as having a little crush on Rosita, yet Rick caught him once noticing Michonne's backside a second too long. This was in addition to him being mostly unhelpful as if it was his general principle.
The structural integrity of the block tower became compromised as Judith attempted to take a cube from the middle. The pieces clattered on the wooden floor.
That's when the front entry opened.
Michonne breathlessly caught Ricks eyesight as she entered the threshold, lightly tapping his sturdy bicep with a "hi" before stopping behind the couch, one of her hands holding a plastic CD case. Glistening with a light sweat, still wearing her form fitting tank top and tight pants, no obvious signs of hanky panky. She was all in one piece and still curvaceous in all the right places.
Still panting, she greeted Carl and Judith.
"How'd it go?" Carl asked while Judith cooed.
"Not too bad. We need to start a conversation about growing our own food though." She glanced at Rick from her side before her eyes settled back onto Carl. "Do you still have that portable CD player? I found some history. One of the first albums I ever bought on my own."
Carl nodded. "Yeah. It's on top of my dresser. You're gonna have to put batteries in, that's on the shelf."
"Where's Spencer?" Rick furrowed his brow.
"He said he was going to put the food away. In fact, he insisted. He must have seen how giddy I was in finding this!" Her smile was the biggest Rick had ever seen.
Rick watched Michonne thank Carl and bound up the stairs, the candlelights around the house capturing her shapely butt bouncing in uninterrupted glory. Rick took in the rare sight, as her bedroom in the house was downstairs.
Feeling eyes on him, Rick glanced back at Carl, for a mere second, long enough to see his son with an almost imperceptible facial expression, one that only a parent would notice.
The instant half snarl of realization from a teenager, becoming aware of something he was not supposed to know.
Rick raised his eyebrow at his son before going upstairs. He softly knocked on the door frame as Michonne was putting the plastic battery cover plate back into the player.
"I'm so jazzed. You know I'm happy when I say something like 'jazzed'! Come in," She popped the CD out to put in the player. "You should smell inside the album."
"Smell?" He sauntered up beside her.
"Yeah! It still reminiscent of the incense that was burning from the house over the years."
The faint scent of lavender.
While Michonne plugged in corded earphones, Rick closed the plastic case and examined the cover. A six piece band, all black artists, with matching dark suits. "Mint Condition - From The Mint Factory," he read aloud.
Michonne pressed some buttons on the player. "Yeah, their next album after this one was titled Breath Savers."
Rick raised his eyebrows. "Really?!"
"No!" Michonne snort laughed. "Corny joke. Its actually called Altoids. No, no, no its not. I need to stop." Her giggles fading, she handed Rick one end of the earphones while using the other one. "Ready to hear my favorite song on here?"
U send me swingin'
Oh, u send me swingin'
The dulcet tones instantly filled the room though tiny earbuds.
Rick watched Michonne look down as she began to slowly rock her hips in rhythm, snapping her fingers, her eyes meeting up to him.
I never thought I'd really find
someone so beautiful and kind
Oh, what you've done to me
with just the little things you do
"I can't dance like that." He smiled at her, closed lipped.
"OK, want to do this slow with me?" She was asking for permission but she already placed her hands lightly on Ricks shoulders. "Put your hands on my hips."
I wait for the day
A sweet gentle sway
Brought your love right my way
Oh, u send me swingin'
Ricks fingers touched the waistband of the leather material of the pants that Michonne filled out so well. They began to tip to the right and left in an effort to be in sync. "I feel like I'm at prom."
"A cool prom though." Michonne said.
"A very cool prom." Rick laughed.
Just thinking 'bout you
and all those things that we could do
Together as one
if only you could see
how sweet your love is to me
With eyes closed, lightly humming along, she slid her forearms up on his shoulders, not concerned about the shrinking gap between their bodies.
"You have good taste." Rick said, his voice purposely a bit lower than usual.
Michonne opened her eyes, chuckling, her grin brightening the room again. "Right? You're feeling the song, too, right?"
He nodded. "And you have a beautiful smile."
He could see her blush, her eyelashes fluttering from the shock of the compliment that tested their friendship boundary. A giggle escaped. "Oh wow! Thank you."
I wait for the day
A sweet gentle sway
Brought your love right my way
Oh, u send me swingin'
Ricks eyes darted, he had to focus on anything else before it would be too late and he would be uncomfortably hard.
Staring at a blank spot on the wall, he thought about how Michonne shown loyalty and compassion towards his children.
Her hope in dire circumstances led the group to Alexandria, with a place to call home.
How, if he stared at her face for too long, his heart might stop.
It was at this point where he realized there was little he could do, his member was going to get stiff just thinking about her no matter what.
She was the incredibly hot sword lady of his dreams, doing what she had to do to survive and care for everyone else, plunging into the heads of walkers and hearts of enemies with her long, storied, shiny blade.
Swingin me
Round and round
My heart is beating
A joyful sound
No wonder he had all these sudden thoughts about swordplay. Rick began to laugh.
Michonne opened her eyes, her hands sliding back up to his shoulders. "Mmmm, what?"
"This song is about you and your katana. Its all I can think about right now. Listen to these words."
Michonne giggled. "Maybe it's about you ordering me to use it. You know, sending me swinging."
Rick found his hands moving towards her back, gripping tight just above her ass. He lowered his voice.
"Believe me, if I ever have the chance to order you around, we would be in a different bedroom."
Her face become visibly fervent reacting to his audacity. He noticed that her eyes were focusing around his mouth.
"I believe you, Rick."
The CD played the next song. The earphones slipped off from them both as they leaned into each other, their lips dangerously close. Each others breathing were the only sounds both of them heard. Her fingertips deeply pressed into his shoulder muscles, almost massaging. One of his hands dared to move up to caress the small of her back.
"Michonne!"
Carl's distant voice slowly broke the spell.
Michonne stopped rubbing Ricks shoulders as he dropped his hands.
"Holy shit," she whispered.
They both were still close, not touching each other but not moving back either.
"Michonne!" Carl yelled again.
Rick knew that this could not take a step further. His own flesh and blood cockblocked him with his persistence. "What, Carl?" he shouted.
"Its for Michonne! Spencer's here! He has a question!"
Rick drew his face back, as if he took a bite into a lemon.
"OK, I'll be right down!" Michonne stopped the CD player and picked up the earphones to lay them back on top of the dresser.
He sighed. "It's after 7 o clock. What question could he have. How hard is it to drop stuff off at the pantry and leave?"
"Oh come on, he's harmless." She popped the CD back into the plastic case and took in a deep breath. "Do you know what you and I were just about to do?"
Rick looked down at his boots.
"Rick, look at me."
He stared at her expressive dark eyes as she squealed with joy.
"Think about what we were about to do. That's how magical just one song from this CD is!"
She spun back out down the stairway to see Spencer at the door.
Rick sighed to himself. "Well, I'll definitely think about it in the shower tonight."
At the top of the stairs, he looked at Carl.
He was looking up, giving his father that half snarl that no one else could notice but him.