(no subject)

[stbethadettes]

Beth hasn't been awake very long.

She's curled up on her side with the blanket pulled up to her chin. She may not still be sleepy, but she is extremely comfortable and would rather not move just yet.

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[not_that_spike]

A whole stream of concepts floats through Spike's mind.

Concepts like happy and relaxed and content and chosen and satisfied and alive.

Especially alive.

Each concept has its own color, its own flavor, its own feel. It's kind of delicious and kind of unexpected to be having thoughts like this, but that's the way it is.

He opens his eyes; the ceiling is still right where it was when he fell asleep.

You never know at a place like this.

Beth -- or the idea of Beth -- makes him smile. He's not in a hurry to go anywhere or even to do or say anything.

[stbethadettes]

She catches herself beginning to hum and stops abruptly.

Then she rolls over and sees that Spike is awake.

"'Morning."

[not_that_spike]

"It is."

He turns to her
(warm)
(vibrant)
(beautiful)
(strong)
and brushes a stray hair away from her lips.

He rests his arm on her shoulder
(muscular)
(smooth)
(white)
and kisses her forehead.

He moves next to her
(soft)
(hot)
(exotic)
and kisses her lips.

"Morning."

[stbethadettes]

Her mouth melts into a smile. She presses herself against him because contact is a wonderful thing.

"I remember parts of the dream I had last night." Which isn't usually the case here.

"I was working. On an airplane, but it was going to Venus." That part was definitely his fault. "It was a long flight and the passengers kept asking for apples."

[not_that_spike]

"Were you wearing fig leaves?"

Under the protection of the blanket, he moves his hand over her body and it rests where it naturally belongs, on the side of her hip.

Another thought flutters through his mind; Beth is on / about / around him. We fit well.

"Venus can be a tricky place."

beautifulbeautifulwoman

His hand moves to the small of her back.

[stbethadettes]

She laughs.

"No. ...Possibly." She stops and thinks about it for a second. "I don't remember what I was wearing." She shrugs, smiling.

"Tricky? How so?"

She thinks better of it and puts two fingertips over his lips for a moment. "Wait. Don't tell me. Maybe that's something that can be written about." It's not like she doesn't enjoy hearing his stories, but she does realize she asks for them often.

[not_that_spike]

Instead of talking, he kisses her fingertips. He can write it for her if that's what she wants.

There's a lot of things he can do just the way she wants.

He knows a little bit about what she likes... but the little bit he knows is pretty important.

(warm)
(soft)
(sexy)
(sweet)
(loving)

He kisses her shoulder, the one peeking outside the top of the blanket, and kisses over to the crook of her neck, and lingers there.

Happily.

[stbethadettes]

Beth holds his head there, unable to stop smiling, and doesn't say anything for a few minutes.

She eventually speaks up again. "Ask me something. Anything. I'll tell you whatever you want to know this time."

She must be in a very good mood.

[not_that_spike]

He speaks against her skin, unwilling to move at all.

"Why did you decide to talk to me that first night?"

His eyes are closed and he breathes in the scent of her hair, her skin. She's like no one he's ever known.

[stbethadettes]

She shrugs her shoulders, but just barely so she doesn't disturb him much.

"You're male and looked interesting. I've never known anyone with green hair. And you smelled vaguely of smoke. Why wouldn't I have wanted to talk to you?"

[not_that_spike]

He smiles against her: fair enough.

"Were you looking for this?"

[stbethadettes]

"For this? Not specifically." She runs her fingernails up and down his back.

"But I haven't had my hopes up for anything like this for a couple of years now."

[not_that_spike]

An involuntary shiver follows the trail of her fingers.

"I wasn't either."

The thump-thump, thump-thump of her heart echoes against his chest. He thinks fleetingly of Julia, but only as a reference point. There's no longing and no regret: that was then and there and yes, it mattered then, but it doesn't matter now.

"I wasn't looking at all."

[stbethadettes]

There's a satisfied look on her face as she continues running her nails across his skin.

"Why did you agree to teach me to shoot? I didn't really expect you to."

[not_that_spike]

"Because it was the right thing to do."

He pulls away just enough so that he can kiss her mouth, then nestles again into the crook of her neck. He likes it just fine there; it feels like the right place to be.

"I think we should stay here all day. Like this."

[stbethadettes]

She almost asks him why he thinks it was the right thing to do, but she gets distracted by his next statement.

"Just like this?"

[not_that_spike]

"Maybe like this instead."

Gently, he rolls her onto her back and kisses the vee at the base of her throat. He moves to his side, resting on an elbow, and studies her. He wants to trace her scar.

He wants to gaze into her eyes.

He wants to feel her skin warm against his.

He wants to do a lot of things, none of which involve being anywhere else.

[stbethadettes]

She exhales deeply, contentedly.

In the back of her mind, she wonders when exactly she started feeling more than a physical attraction to him. But it's too hard to concentrate on that when he's skin-to-skin with her and staring at her.

"I'm good with either." She smiles up at him, watching him as he studies her.

[not_that_spike]

He doesn't pray. He doesn't believe in one all-powerful God pulling the strings. But he does believe in something: something greater than each individual.

He knows he's done some things in his life that weren't stellar. Hell, most of them weren't. But being here... this place is like a second chance, a new opportunity. Maybe he gets to do things right this time.

Some of the intensity leaves his face as he smiles. It's not a huge grin, just a small smile. But a focused one: it's for Beth.

"Hey."

She is... unexpected. A gift.

A treasure.

[stbethadettes]

She raises her eyebrows at him, still all smiles. "Hey?"

[not_that_spike]

Spike nods, tracing his finger down her nose.

He runs the same finger over her lips.

He kisses her mouth.

He loves her in that new-lover way that's all lust and butterflies and endless fascination. He loves her in that way that makes him too shy to admit it in so many words.

He hasn't loved anyone in a long, long time.

He only ever loved one person before in a way that even remotely resembled this. But that was so different. So desperate. So long ago.

He brushes the hair back from her face.

"Beth?"

[stbethadettes]

She closes her eyes and isn't just tolerating the touching and kissing and tracing; she's enjoying it immensely.

"Yeah?"

Her eyes open again and meet his. She really does like the way the left and right simply don't quite match.

[not_that_spike]

"You're so beautiful."

It comes out as a whisper.

"You know that, don't you?"

[stbethadettes]

She isn't sure what to say, but she beams like that's the best compliment she's ever gotten. She lifts her head and kisses him appreciatively.

"I'm very glad you think so."

[not_that_spike]

"I'm glad I'm at the end of the universe with you. I think there couldn't have been a better choice for Eve and if I were the only man on Earth I'd find you and hold you and stay with you and never let you go."

He's well aware of what he's saying.

And he means every single word.

[stbethadettes]

Her forehead wrinkles, but not from confusion or anger or fear. In fact, it's for all the opposite reasons.

It smoothes after just a moment, though, and she wordlessly wraps both arms around him and hugs him to her.

She thought being called beautiful was a good compliment, but this may be even better. Because she didn't expect it from him.

She doesn't believe in love at first sight or soul mates or anything like that, regardless of what she told Yorick when she encouraged him to leave her, but she's happy to have Spike remind her that romance doesn't disagree with her.

It doesn't disagree with her at all.

[not_that_spike]

Because of the circumstances of his life, he's hard and bitter and closed. He drops the armor for precious few people, and when he does, he rarely does it freely and graciously.

He has no need for armor with Beth. In her arms -- in her embrace -- he lets go of the past. He lets go of worries, of thoughts about alive or dead, of memories, of fears.

She is here.

She is smiles and sunshine and scars that add fascination, and she is heart and faith and trust and soul, and she is beauty.

She is beauty.

[stbethadettes]

She rains several kisses on his face, her entire body feeling nothing but affection and contentment.

"So sweet."

She holds him tightly against her.

[not_that_spike]

He whispers into her ear.

"I've never been called sweet a day in my life, Beth."

But he likes it from her, and he intends to show her just how much he likes it. He pulls the blanket up to cover them both and if there were a light-switch nearby, he'd dim the lights.

He'll just have to take her mind off the daylight the old-fashioned way. And gladly.