Just because I t was as a filler chapter doesn't mean it wasn't important. Nothing Melissa does add things that don't have full answers like how these things seem like sabotage. They were there to drive the story. And thanks to you I'm seeing the thread... I need to put a resolution to those things that n one of these stories... however she doesn't do meaningless scenes. I only called the last chapter a filler because this story is about to get explosive in the next few chapters and that was short and tame in comparison. With that being said... enjoy. ~SK
Twenty Seven
It was odd, Tori mused, as she stood in line to get in the door to the chambers, to hear everyone else talking about the disaster she'd spent all night trying to fix. The change in time and the general chaos had thrown off the crowds of supporters, and there were only a few there so far, waving signs and getting organized.
They were probably still mobbing the ATM machines. She allowed herself an uncharitable thought. Or raiding the discount beer stores.
Now now, Tori. A quiet scold. You know better than to make those generalizations. Not all white supremacists drink beer. She peered over at the milling crowd. Some of them probably like Boones Farm. She sighed. Bad Tori. Obnoxious stuck up WASP Tori. Cut it out.
"Likely lookin' bunch of pansy ass rednecks, ain't they?" James drawled from behind her, his arms crossed over his chest. "They give my Southern Baptist butt a hive and a half."
Tori bit her lip to keep from laughing, then exhaled, trying to relieve a little of the tension building up inside her. No sign of her family, of course, since they were probably inside already, but she was getting sideways looks from the people standing around her which made her realize she was being recognized from the previous day.
People were giving James little glances too, and she half turned, giving her companion a little smile. He really was a distinctive looking person, she realized, with his height, and muscular body, and the sense of presence he carried himself with. And of course, the patchwork of scars across his face, which she didn't really even see anymore. At least the two worst were gone, replaced by the slightly rough covering of synthetic skin that restored his face to something approaching normality. She'd understood his need to remain hidden before, but she had a feeling that now, since the one opinion that really mattered to him was secured, he'd have discarded the hood even with out the surgery.
And the eyes. Jade's pale, electric blue, set off by the tan skin creased in wrinkles on either side of them. Right now they were roaming everywhere, drinking in the crowd, the guards, the protestors – alive with interest and curiosity.
She was glad he was here – it made her feel utterly safe to be standing next to him. "Hope this doesn't last long." Tori sighed. "I think I'd rather be getting dental work." She walked forward at the guard's request and edged through the detector, then turned and waited for James to follow.
"Ahm gonna set that off." The tall man drawled to the guard as he ambled through, sure enough making the machine react. He stopped on the other side of it, watching the nervous reactions. "Don't get yer britches in a square knot. I got me two plates here.. " He tapped his upper thigh. "And a couple odd shells tucked up inside me somewhere."
The guard approached cautiously, and ran a hand held device over him, getting readings near his leg, and stomach. "Um…. "
"Ain't nothing up mah sleeve." Jim lifted his shirt and displayed a scarred, but still muscular abdomen. "Here." He pulled his identification wallet from the back pocket of his jeans and flipped out a card. The guard took it and examined it, then handed it back respectfully.
"Go ahead, sir." He lifted his wand in a little salute as James moved past him and joined Tori at the door to the chambers.
"Jest goes to show you, stay in the damn Navy long enough, something'll salute you." He muttered, half under his breath.
Tori grinned, and tucked her hand inside his elbow as they walked inside. "You didn't make the airport one go off." She commented curiously. "And those catch my car keys, for heaven's sake."
"Looking fer different things." Jim replied cryptically. He paused as they reached the threshold of the inner chamber and looked around, since the people in front of them were deciding where to sit. A cluster of people were around the defense area, and heads turned as they entered.
"C'mon." Tori wanted to sit down, and be out of the spotlight.
"That yer folks?"
She nodded, as they walked down the center aisle, and chose seats, watching the room fill up around them. Shelby , she noted, wasn't there and neither was Trina this time. Just her mother, and father and their reps. She felt a little nervous at that, since it appeared she was being singled out. Tori folded her hands in her lap and regarded them, her fingers twisting her wedding ring idly.
I wish this was over. She silently sounded the words. I wish it were over, and I was out of here, and we were home. Her stomach was tied up in knots, having rejected breakfast, and her head hurt from not sleeping.
A hand touched her arm and she looked up. "Kinda loud in here."
Jim gazed at her. "You all right, kumquat?"
Tori sighed. "I'm tired, and I'm cranky, and I don't want to be here." She hesitated. "And I'm a little scared of why they want me back to testify."
The room quieted then, as the session got under way. First, there were some meetings, then they talked about procedure.
Then they called her up. Tori stood and took a deep breath, then carefully made her way out of their row and towards the table, getting a comforting pat on the leg from Jim as she went past him. She took her seat, and folded her hands as her Mother's Rep came over to face her.
It was a very lonely feeling. She knew the man, and had for years, but it was as though he considered her nothing but some trash off the street, given his expression. Not to mention her parent's faces. Cameras flashed, and her peripheral vision caught the round, black single eyes of the television crews.
"Ms. Vega." The man hardly looked up from his papers. "You work for a company called WesTrek, is that correct?"
"Yes."
"For how long?"
"Almost a year."
He scribbled a note. "When was the last time you spoke with your parents, Ms. Vega?"
Tori felt the heightened interest almost beating against her skin. "Thanksgiving of last year." She answered quietly, and hearing a faint murmur rise.
"Why is that?" The man looked up.
"Why do you want to know?"
"Excuse me?"
Tori shifted. "I asked, why do you want to know? What does something personal between my parents and myself have to do with anything here?"
He tapped his pen on his pad. "Because, Ms. Vega, there was some very damaging, and potentially libelous material released to the press last year, coincidentally… " He put a sting on it. "A day after the last time you spoke to your parents." He paused. "So I ask you again, Ms. Vega. Why?"
Oh shit. Tori caught James sitting forward, gazing at her in concern. I am in such deep trouble. She sucked in a breath though, and collected her thoughts. Don't' let them rattle you. Jade's voice intoned iner mind. "Think."
"We had a disagreement about the direction my life was taking." Tori answered carefully. "It happens all the time, in families." A pause. "Or so I'm told."
He nodded. "A disagreement so severe, it caused you to break off contact with your family entirely?"
"No." She shook her head. "I speak with my sisters, and our extended family."
He made another mark. "Several years back, your uncle was fired by WesTrek."
"That's true." Tori agreed.
"And yet, you chose to go work for them." He paused, and looked at her. "Why?"
That, at least, was an easy question. "I'm an information services professional, they're one of the largest Gaming and Media companies in the world, and they absorbed my last company, then offered me a promotion, with a thirty percent pay hike." Tori cocked her head. "It wasn't exactly rocket science." Several of the members of the Judiciary Committee behind him laughed.
"Even though your mother was actively campaigning against them, and was working to have them thrown out of government contracts in Connecticut?"
"Because she held a grudge due to Uncle Al. Yes." Tori answered back, a trifle sharply. "I investigated the files regarding that when I became an employee of WesTrek, and I was satisfied that the company acted fairly." She folded her hands.
"As a matter of fact, your current…. Supervisor…. Fired him. Is that right, Ms. Vega?"
Uh oh, take two. "Given the information we had on him, sir, I would have fired him." Tori answered quietly. "But yes, in answer to your question, it was Ms. West who did it."
A nod. "Exactly." The man leafed through a few sheets of paper. "It was the first step, in fact, in a plan to discredit your mother. " He looked up. "And you played right into it."
Tori blinked. "What?"
He leaned on the table. "We know where that libelous information came from, Ms. Vega."
She didn't answer him, her pulse racing against her skin.
"It's been a careful, underhanded campaign to discredit your mother, and turn you against her, and it's resulted in this hearing, where this committee is to question your mother's very morals." The man turned, making sure the cameras had a good shot at him. "I put it to you, chairman. The company who stood to lose from the senator's investigations, who duped her daughter into working for them, who had the ability, and the resources to manufacture this information … it's so obvious."
Tori could hear the murmurs of agreement. "You have no idea what you're talking about." She pronounced carefully. "WesTrek didn't manufacture anything."
"They could have, though… What about that problem this morning?" One of the Ranking members behind the desk leaned back. "Damn computers are too powerful nowadays."
The Rep circled her. "Don't you see, Ms. Vega? You've been tricked by your boss. It's obvious that she made this stuff… " He slapped the dossiers sitting on the desk. "Up, and sent it out, to stop Senator Vega from canceling those contracts. "
Tori took a deep breath. "No, she didn't." She disagreed. "And WesTrek had nothing to do with this."
"You can't be sure of that, Ms. Vega." The man now gave her a pitying look. "Or should I say, you've got a vested interest in denying it, since she seduced you in the process."
A shocked silence occurred, then low whispers. Tori felt her nervousness fade, replaced by anger. "Oh, I most certainly can be sure of that."
"You're not denying the seduction then? We know you two live together."
The whispers were getting ugly, and Tori could feel the hostile eyes now on her. "That information was not manufactured by anyone, and Jade West did not release it."
The man crossed to her, and leaned on the table. "Oh really? And how do you know that?"
Tori met his eyes. "Because I did."
Dead silence.
"I validated the source, I confirmed the contents, and I released that information to the press, and to the FBI." Tori spoke into all that frozen quiet. "And, sir, it's the bribes, and the malfeasance, and the buying of votes, and the moral decrepitude that's at issue here. Not me, or my relationship with my family, or who in the hell I sleep with!" Her last sentence was spoken in a rapid crescendo.
He stared at her in total disgust. "Stinking faggot." The words were a bare utterance as he turned and walked away, not looking back.
Tori just sat there, breathing hard.
"That will be all for now, Ms. Vega." Senator Harris said, carefully adjusting a pile of papers in her hands. "I motion for a brief adjournment." Tori could have kissed her and Vowed to vote for her the next Election if she decided to run again.
Somewhere, she found the strength to stand up with quiet dignity and face the explosion of flashbulbs, staring through them to find her way back through the muttering crowd to a safe haven outlined by a tall, angry looking form who put an arm around her and visited the surrounding crowd with a lethal glare.
She sat down, shaking.
James sat next to her and hissed out a long, aggravated breath. "That boy is going to have his pecker pulled out his damn nostrils fore I'm done with him."
Tori swallowed, not daring to look up, knowing everyone was looking at her. Then a warm hand dropped onto her other shoulder, and a graceful body lifted itself over the row of chairs and settled into the one next to her, feeling and smelling and sounding like Jade. She peeked over, and saw a wry, compassionate gaze looking back. "Can I go home now?" She managed to whisper.
Jade pulled her closer, ignoring the press, having gotten to the chambers just in time to hear Tori's admission. "Don't worry about it, Tor. You did what you had to - whatever happens, you and I will deal with it." She exchanged looks with her father. "Take it easy. I've got you."
Tori closed her eyes, momentarily safe in her warm haven. Surely, it couldn't get any worse, right?
She sighed.
They pushed their way out of the hastily recessed chambers, surrounded by people who were grabbing and shoving and plucking at Tori's sleeve. "Ms. Vega… Ms. Vega, a moment with you please!"
Tori kept her head down, and kept walking, relying on Jade's guidance to keep her from slamming into the press crews, and other impediments. A hand grabbed her arm, and she looked over, to see a microphone shoved in her face. "I'm sorry." She took a breath. "I think I've said enough for now."
"Wait!"
"Ms. Vega!"
"Is it true…"
"Excuse us." Jade put an arm around Tori and put a hand out, shoving hard and making some space in the crush of bodies. James came up on the other side and tucked Ceci between them, slipping an arm behind Jade's and clasping her above the elbow.
"You all right?" Ceci murmured, patting Tori's arm.
"No." Tori whispered.
"Take it easy. We'll get out of here." Ceci glanced up at the two determined, serious faces above her head. She and Jade had made their way down to the crowded building after Jade had finished her interview, doing a more than credible job so far as Ceci could tell, and fending off the repeated passes from the reporter with a wry good grace. They'd gotten to the stairs just as Tori was speaking, and stopped in the very doorway just as she'd admitted to releasing the information.
Gutsy kid. Ceci had followed Jade closely through the chaos, finding herself almost swallowed up by Jim's welcoming grip as she reached the seats.
She'd been out of life for so long, Ceci suspected this was the Goddess' little revenge.
They forced their way out the door and finally felt fresh air against them, and Tori sucked in a huge lungful of it, trying to ignore the shouting of the protestors not far away. The cameras had followed, and reporters were yammering, but her senses were on overload, and she shut them down in self defense, covering her ears with her hands and shivering.
"Down there. "Jade directed. "We'll get a cab, and get the hell out of here."
"I'm not going back there." Tori muttered. "I don't care what they say. That's it."
They headed down the stairs, past the crowd, and Jade flicked her eyes over them, seeing the angry faces, and surging motion. "Look! There they are! That's the one!"
"Shit." Jade turned her shoulders just in time to deflect a large rock. "Let's move."
"Son of a biscuit." James growled. "Gigi, switch spots with me."
Another rock pelted the dark haired woman, and she gritted her teeth. "Just keep moving."
Epithets rolled over them. Nasty, dark words full of hate, and anger, and more rocks with them. The police struggled to keep the crowd back, but several men broke through and grabbed a barricade, moving towards them with wild intent.
James cursed, and ducked around Jade. "Stay with yer momma." He growled, giving them all a shove towards the cab as he jumped to intercept the two men. "And where d'you think ye're goin, dog face?" He grabbed the barricade coming towards him and wrenched it from the man's hands, tossing it away and towards an empty spot on the stairs. The man closest to him, a tall, thin youngster with cropped hair and ugly ears reached for him, but a policeman caught him up from behind, and started hauling him towards the line of barricades. "You stupid bastard!" The boy yelled at James. "I'll kick your ass!"
His companion jumped on James, and rapidly realized what a bad mistake that was when the retired SEAL got a grab on his neck and his crotch and flipped him over his head, landing him on the hard marble stairs. Three more men broke through the ranks and started running towards them, with sticks.
Jim grinned and bounced on the balls of his feet, feeling a rush of blood through him that left a pleasant tingle behind, prickling a lust for fighting that had never quite faded. "C'mon, ya little pollywogs." He yelled at them, flexing his hands.
A cab pulled cautiously to the curb as Jade signaled, and yanked the door open, hustling her mother and Tori inside.
"Where ya goin?" The cabbie yelled.
"Anywhere but here." Jade replied, looking around quickly and spotting several reporters heading their way. "Jesus. I shoulda left that damn system down this morning." She turned to see her father holding his ground, then she sighed. "Be right back!"
She bolted up the stairs and grabbed James's arm. "C'mon, Dad."
"Aw." James threw a last punch, then ducked an outstretched arm and followed Jade back to the cab. They beat the reporters by a few steps, and got the doors closed just in time, the cab pulling quickly away from the curb as a stumbling cameraman slammed against its bumper.
For a moment, there was silence. Then Tori slowly released a long held breath and leaned against Jade, who wrapped her up tightly and pulled her close.
"Hope there's a back entrance to that there hotel." James remarked. "Haven't seen this much hooha since Afghanistan" He half turned and regarded his wife, who was rubbing her ear. "You all right, Cec?"
Cecilia mentally caught her breath. "I think so." She looked over at Jade, who was pressed against the cab door with Tori huddled against her. "You?"
Jade nodded, feeling her wife burrow further into her sweater. "I'm fine." She put a hand against Tori's head as she heard her take a shaky breath. "All right. Let's just get back to the hotel, and regroup, then I'll figure out what to do." She half expected a protest from Tori, but the brunette didn't say a word. Okay. Jade mentally sorted things out. What Tori had just done had exposed two possible problems that had been niggling at her.
One, the fact that she and Jade lived together, which had been rolled right over.
Two, the fact that the information on her mother had come from within WesTrek, which had also been rolled right over, obscured by the brunette's startling confession.
WesTrek's position, then was simple, that it's employee's personal lives was none of their concern. One problem out of the way.
As for Tori coming bursting out of the closet with a howitzer… well, from the company's standpoint they were on the high ground, able to placidly say their employee's sexuality was also none of their concern, and the equal treatment of such was assured under the corporate bylaws. Made them look damn progressive, which the WesTrek board, to her chagrin, certainly wasn't.
Okay. So she didn't have to worry about the company. On the other hand, she did have to worry about the desperately upset woman in her arms, who was emotionally devastated and rapidly unraveling before Jade's eyes. With a sigh, she pulled her phone out and dialed a number. Alastair answered on the second ring.
"Well, hello there Jade." Her boss's voice was wry. "Just saw your interview.. fantastic job. I got a call from ABC and CBS right afterward, asking for in depth stuff."
"Alastair…"
"And, I just saw the hearings."
Jade was silent, wondering what he'd say.
A pause. "She's a damn brave kid." Alastair's voice was warm. "Give her my regards, will ya?"
Jade smiled quietly. "I will."
"Think they'll call you up there? Just so I know the worst?" Alastair sounded peacefully resigned. "I've called a teleconference for tomorrow morning."
"Not if they're smart." Jade replied.
"All right. Keep me advised, Jade. I want to know what's happening."
A wry chuckle. "I'll keep the company's nose as clean as I can, Alastair."
"Couldn't give a damn about the company, Jade."
She stared at the phone for a moment.
"Ah… surprised you, huh?" The Chairman laughed. "That's a first… later, Jade." He hung up, leaving her to close her phone bemusedly and tuck it away. Tori finally loosened her grip and tilted her head, gazing up at her with sad eyes.
"Hey." Jade leaned forward a little to touch her forehead against her wifes. "Bet you could use some ice cream." She got a very tiny tired, hurting smile back, then Tori exhaled, and put her head back down. Jade stroked the pale hair comfortingly, glancing up to see her mother watching her. For an awkward moment they stared at each other, then Ceci tightened her lips into a brief smile, and turned her attention to her husband, who was scowling at the surrounding, busy streets.
They got to the hotel, and the cabbie drove into the parking garage, going down a level and arriving at a lower entrance that was pretty well deserted. Gratefully, they paid him and got out, slipping inside and grabbing an elevator. "Hold on." James held a hand up. "Let's take that one there." He pointed. "It's got a fireman's control."
"We don't' have a key." Jade remarked, her arm still around the very quiet and withdrawn Tori.
"Pshaw." Her father pushed her inside and waited for them to enter, pulling a small gadget from his pocket and using it to jimmy the fireman's lock as the doors closed.
The elevator made a soft, whooshing noise as it climbed the floors. Tori's eyes went from face to face as they waited. "I'm sorry you all had to go through that." She finally said. "I wish… " She fell silent.
"S'alright, kumquat." James drawled.
"What did you call her?" Ceci consciously tried to lighten the atmosphere. "Good grief, Jimmy… how could you compare poor Tori to a small, bitter orange?"
The doors opened, and they peeked out, then edged into the empty corridor and made their way quickly to Jade and Tori's room. They got inside just as they heard the elevators open, and voices come their way, and Jim closed the door hastily, then held a finger to his lips.
Tori couldn't have cared less if the entire Mormon Tabernacle Choir was outside. She trudged over and landed on the bed, spreading her arms out and closing her eyes in weary relief.
Sweet Jesus, what had she done?
After they'd named her a hostile witness, she'd felt sure her parents knew she'd been the one to release that information. What other reason would there be to estrange her? Surely… it couldn't just be Jade.
But no. They hadn't known. One look at her mother's face had told her that. Utter shock. Utter betrayal. She had thought that revealing Jade as the source of the information would have driven a wedge between them, never realizing what she'd force her to say.
No mom. It wasn't Jade. She'd have deleted the entire file, left up to her.
I did it.
Me.
Your little girl.
Tori heard Jim and Ceci move into their own room, mentioning something about ordering room service over there, then it got quiet, and the bed next to her dipped and moved, bringing a warm body to settle against her. She opened her eyes to see Jade propped up on her side, a tired look on her face. "I fucked up." She watched the use of the epithet raise Jade's eyebrow. She never said that, unless it was the worst of the worst of things and her partner knew it.
"No you didn't" Her wife disagreed. "They did."
Tori exhaled. "She didn't know." Her eyes went to Jade's. "She didn't know it was me, Jade. "
"I know."
"Now they have a good reason to hate me."
Jade leaned forward, and took her hand. "Listen to me a minute." Her voice was very serious. "Stop blaming yourself, Tori. I mean it. "
Tori looked at her.
"You're not the one who did the wrong thing."
"I released that information."
"YOU are not the one who did the wrong thing." Jade repeated. "You are not the one who accepted those bribes, and you are not the one who let industry pay you off to look the other way while wildlife was slaughtered, and you are NOT the one who used government funds to maintain a mistress and their two children."
"I could have just kept quiet like everyone else does." Tori murmured. "If I had, maybe someday I could have eventually sat down and talked to them about us."
Jade sighed, and rubbed her fingers. "Tori, even if nothing had happened, do you really think they'd have accepted me? Accepted us?"
Tori shook her head slightly. "I don't know. I'll never know." She sighed, seeing Jade's perplexed look. "I can't help it, Jade. They're my parents and I love them." She regarded the ceiling. "How could I have done that to them?"
Jade nibbled her thumbnail, trying to figure out what to say. She was tired, her stomach was in knots, she'd had a very, very rough day, and it was only the afternoon. Sensitive discussions were never her forte at any time, and frankly, there was no good answer to Tori's question, was there? "Well… " She finally responded. "I can only tell you what I would have done." She paused. "I think if I'd have gone through what you'd just gone through, with the hospital and all. I'd have been furious." Another pause. "Hell, I was furious."
Tori turned her head and studied her love's face.
"Sometimes you do things when you're really angry, that seems right at the time." Jade went on. "I know I have… and then when you look back, later on, you second guess yourself and think about all the other things you could have done or said."
"Mm." Tori agreed glumly. "Hindsight."
"Yeah." A nod. "But the other thing I've realized over the years is, that there's no point in beating yourself up over what you've done. " Jade said. "It's done. "
"Move on." Tori extended the thought. "Recover and deal with it."
"Yeah."
"So.. how, exactly, do I deal with knowing I ruined my parent's lives, and am going to be on every tabloid cover in America next week??"
Jade squirmed a little closer. "First, just like you have to accept responsibility for what you did… you've gotta realize that they have to do the same thing." Jade put a hand on Tori's shoulder. "Your mother did those things, Tor. She knew if anyone found out, this could happen. She accepted the risk."
A sigh. "It hurts."
"I know."
But her brain was starting to work again, Tori realized. She could feel it, the shock was fading, and her mental processes were settling back down into a more normal pattern. "So what about the tabloids? She joked faintly.
"Well….I was figuring." Jade laid an arm over Tori's stomach, and smiled as the brunette let a hand rest on her shoulder. "When you and I are ancient, those things'll make one hell of a scrapbook to pull out and show the grandbabies."
Tori felt her face pull into a real smile at the image. "My fifteen minutes of fame, you mean?"
"Something like that, yeah." Jade returned the smile. "I'll throw in a tape of my interview, and we got it locked down."
Tori moved a bit of dark hair out of Jade's eyes. "Oh… how did that go? Is it on? Let's turn CNN on. I want to see you." Then she stopped. "Hm. Maybe not.. I think I know what the lead story's going to be." She rubbed her temples. "You don't have any Excedrin, do you? My head's killing me."
"Sure." Jade rolled off the bed and stood up, going to her briefcase and tugging a bottle out. "Feel like eating something?"
Tori shook her head.
Jade came back with the pills and some water and sat back down on the bed. "That can't be helping your headache." She commented, as the brunette curled onto her side and took the glass, swallowing several of the tablets and washing them down.
"Probably not, but I think I'd lose whatever I tried to get down." Tori put the glass on the bedside table and put her head down on her arm. "Maybe later."
Jade stretched out next to her, letting her body relax against the bed's mattress. She studied the tense back next to her and reached over, giving it a tentative scratch. Tori's shoulder blades moved, and she heard a soft grunt as she expanded the motion, making little circles with her fingertips.
I'm a big girl. Tori closed her eyes as the touch continued. I don't need to be coddled like a little kid. One eye opened and peered around the empty room. "Hey, Jade?"
"Yeah?"
Tori rolled over onto her back and turned her head. "Think we have time for a nap?"
A nap Boy, that sounded good. Jade spread an arm out, smiling in invitation. "Sure… c'mere." She gathered Tori in and fitted her body around the smaller woman's, until they were a warm tangle in the center of the bed. It was quiet for a bit, then Tori sighed.
"Jade?"
The dark haired woman had her eyes closed, and kept them that way. "Mm?"
"Would you have done it?"
Jade considered that seriously. "I don't know. I can be pretty vindictive, Tori. " A shrug. "Maybe it would depend on whether or not I was PMSing."
"Jade….you don't PMS. I had to listen to an hour-long discussion on that in the lunchroom last week."
"Sure I do, Tori."
"No, you don't."
"Yes, I do…. It's just that no one can tell the difference." The placid response came back. "Think about it… what's typical dropping eggs behavior? It turns you into a raving, overbearing alpha bitch with a thing for chocolate."
Tori had to laugh. She buried her face into Jade's shoulder and muffled her snickering.
"This differs from my normal state exactly how?"
More snickering.
Jade smiled at the popcorn ceiling, glad she'd succeeded in making Tori laugh a little. The chuckles wound down, and a warm hand slipped under her shirt, rubbing the skin gently.
"Thanks." Tori murmured. "I needed that." She exhaled, and closed her eyes, hearing Jade's jaw crack as she yawned. Everything else would just have to wait for later.