The hold this pairing has on me no matter what stage of life I'm in should really be studied.
In any case, here's some JxC one-shots. None of these are related to each other. And assume (unless I note otherwise), that they're aged up in all of these.
Everything I'm publishing here has already been posted over on AO3 under the username rockstarmoron, in case you prefer getting your fic there.
Cindy sets the book she's been reading on the bedside table with a yawn.
The alarm clock Neutron's been tinkering with lately blinks back 12:00 in an angry shade of red.
It's midnight and he's not here yet?
She looks down at the watch he designed for her (to match his), and commands it to show her the lab-camera she'd insisted on having installed so she could make sure he was safe. His protests that she worried too much had fallen on deaf ears. He'd emerged from that god-forsaken underground cave covered in soot from some experiment gone wrong one too many times for her liking. So she'd had it her way, in the end.
She lets out a sigh of relief as she spots him on camera, hunched over blueprints at his desk, clearly asleep. Something about the sight makes her heart ache. She knows she's not one to speak given her own workaholic tendencies, but she can't help but feel that Neutron should really get some more rest. That he pushes himself too hard.
She slips out of bed, ties her silk robe tightly to her body for warmth, and heads down the stairs and out the back door to the shed. Thankfully, he's programmed Vox to recognize her DNA, so she isn't sucked down the uncomfortably narrow tube from their childhood days and can instead be let in the 'normal' way (if there's even such a thing as 'normal' when it comes to him.)
She walks over to him and for a second, admires how peaceful he looks. She feels bad about waking him up.
She leans over his messy brown hair and whispers his name into his ear. "Jimmy."
He stirs a bit before nuzzling his head back into his arms. She tries again, this time gently shaking his shoulders a bit. "Jimmy."
His eyes flutter open and he looks up at her groggy and confused. "Cindy?" His voice is gravelly and hoarse and suddenly she wants him back in their bed more than ever, desire blooming in the pit of her stomach.
"Come on, let's go back to the house."
He groans. "Can't we just sleep on the sofa in here?"
"No, absolutely not, Neutron." She shakes her head at him. "We're not eleven anymore. Our backs will hurt tomorrow. And if you just come upstairs, there's this thing called a bed. Revolutionary, really." She can't help the sarcasm. It's second nature after all these years.
He lets out a deep sigh and pulls himself up. "What time is it?"
"It's just past midnight."
"Cindy, you have to be at the office tomorrow by 8am, you could have just left me—"
"No." Her voice is firm.
He knows better than to argue with her, especially when it's late and they're both exhausted. He holds her hand and lets her guide him out of the sterile environment of his lab and back into the cozy shelter of their room.
He sits on the edge of the bed while she rummages in their walk in closet and hands him pajamas. "Here."
He slips into the bathroom to change and to quickly brush his teeth and then he's back to their bed,finally, where he belongs.
They lie facing each other. "You missed me, didn't you?" His mouth curves into a smirk.
"Suddenly you're wide awake Neutron?" He doesn't respond and simply fixes her with a searching, smug look until she gives in.
"So what if I missed you?" She scowls. "Is that any way to repay me for making sure you actually get a good night's sleep?"
He moves closer to her, bridging the gap between them, and slings a leg around her under the covers. She pulls him in by his worn white undershirt until she can feel his minty fresh breath against her cheek.
"Hmm, I can think of many ways to repay you, Vortex." He responds, cheekily.
"That isn't why I brought you back here." She objects, heat rising to her cheeks.
"Sure it isn't." He smiles at her, unconvinced, and she thinks she's never been happier than in this moment.
She rolls over, turns off the lights and then curls into him, finding it unbearable for them to even be apart for a single second.
How is she still so stupidly in love with Nerdtron even after all this time? How embarrassing. And yet, how wonderful.