that next morning

[wildrover]

Ryan fell asleep quickly after letting Esposito crash in the bed with him, their brief banter wearing him out once again. Like he had admitted to Javier, the day had been long and hard, their current case exacting a toll on Kevin mentally if not quite so much physically. A lot of shifting through useless data and trying to find the useful. At least they'd put this one behind them already, solving it through a fluke of luck and rendering most of Ryan's work obsolete. But it was done and for that Ryan was thankful. Now he just wanted to sleep.

So he did, and heavily too. He didn't shift often in his sleep at least and neither did he snore. And if Esposito did either of those two things then Ryan didn't notice them, not tonight.

Morning came and sun started to peek through the window. One bad thing about having an apartment on the eastern side of the building: the sun always got to the window early in the morning. Ryan shifted slightly but he still wasn't ready to get up just yet. The bed was comfortable, and the body pillow he'd snuggled into was warm and compliant to his needs. He was blissfully content to just stay where he was all morning until the afternoon. Maybe longer.

If only.

Comments

[wildrover]

Ryan pretended like he wasn't blushing from the comment and reached around to turn off the lamp-light. "I dunno, I always thought Beckett would be the fun one in bed."

He only hoped Beckett never heard hide nor hair of that statement. Even as a joke he was afraid to see her reaction.

[specialforces]

Espo settled in. "I really wouldn't be surprised, to be honest. But I'll have you know that I am plenty fun in bed."

[wildrover]

"As much as I would love to take your word for it, bro, I would need proof first. And since suddenly our conversation turned into a really bad porno script I'm going to say goodnight." And with that he rolled over onto his side so that he faced away from Javier, hoping Javi took the hint before he died of embarrassment.

[specialforces]

"And you had to call it out so now that no matter how I respond, it sounds just as much like a bad porno script. Nice." He chuckled a bit and settled in. "Night, man."

[wildrover]

"I didn't know what else to say to make it stop," he muttered into his pillow and hoped that sleep came quickly. He doubted it. His face was too red which meant his heart rate was too high. At least it was dark--darker than it'd ever been before in this room thanks to Javi's work--and surprisingly quiet for once. That would help in the long run at least.

[specialforces]

He paused. Ryan was clearly uncomfortable with the turn the conversation had taken and even if maybe it should get talked about, it was probably not the time to do it.

"Fair enough," he said softly. "Sleep tight."

[wildrover]

It took him as long as expected to fall asleep but the good thing was once he was unconscious nothing really mattered. He was quite out of it, in fact, and slept soundly. It was a good thing then because when he awoke the next morning he was relaxed and well-rested despite his brief bout of insomnia.

And the first thing he noticed was the darkness. It came as such an amusement that he couldn't help it when he laughed softly to himself. He really did have the best partner that anyone could ask for.

[specialforces]

Even without the bout of insomnia, Espo was still sound asleep. He had every intention of taking complete advantage of the off day (and the lack of sunlight!) to sleep in a bit.

This time, though, he was the one who had shifted in the middle of the night. He wasn't quite using Ryan as a body pillow, but he was more or less smushed up against his partner anyway.

[wildrover]

The second thing he noticed was the warmth. The bed was comfortable and warm but he knew from experience this kind of warmth wasn't just that. Oddly, he was sort of peaceful at the thought of why his back was so comfortably warm and for a moment his eyes started to droop and he almost drifted back off to sleep.

He managed to force himself to stay awake despite the continued calling of sleep but he still didn't feel the need to get out of bed. So instead he squirmed around awkwardly, trying not to move too much but inevitably failing, then giving up pretense and simply making the move all in one effort; till he was turned around, facing Javier and perfectly content to remain comfortably pressed against the warmth of his partner's body.

Maybe he should have felt more embarrassed. But this time he was awake first and he could tease Javier if the need arose. Until then, he would let his partner sleep for as long as Javi needed.

[specialforces]

He stirred just a bit at Kevin's shifting around, but settled back into sleep for a while before slowly blinking his eyes open only to see Kevin right there.

"... Oh. Um. Morning."

[wildrover]

"Did you miss me?" Kevin teased but with a soft smile that didn't really fit with the teasing. Still, he laughed in pretense, and kept up relentlessly. "Was one night not enough? Had to come back for more? Don't worry, I understand. Once you've gotten a taste of Kevin Ryan you never want to let go."

[specialforces]

Espo smothered a smile and replied easily, "How did you guess? I just needed to get right back on the Irish Express."

[wildrover]

Ryan laughed genuinely this time but it was tinged with obvious embarrassment. Not only did his laugh betray him but his cheeks flared up as well. He ducked his head down to his chest which brought him awfully close to Javier's chest as well but at least his face was hidden.

"You know the more I think about it I'm not sure if that's actually an insult or not." He was avoiding the subject by focusing on only part of the comment but it was easier to talk about than the alternative.

[specialforces]

He laughed himself, mulling it over for a moment before answer. "I think the focus should be more on power than... speed. So you should be good." Definitely so much easier to talk about.

[wildrover]

Easier but no less embarrassing. "Yeah, but the title has 'express' right there in it as if trying to imply something else."

[specialforces]

"Okay, good point. What's the best alternative, do you think?"

[wildrover]

"Wait, are you asking me to describe myself in bed? Javi... you know I'm embarrassed by that sort of thing."

[specialforces]

"No need to be, bro. I am totally sure you've got absolutely nothing to be ashamed of."

[wildrover]

"Ah, thanks Javi." Ryan shifted in place uncomfortably though as the conversation had hit a point where he couldn't much handle it anymore. Still, he seemed reluctant to move just yet. "You know this would be easier at the precinct. How is it that with a group of people it's easier to laugh and joke about this sort of thing than with just one person?"

Never mind the fact that it was probably because that one person was someone special, someone important. He was trying not to think too much into that.

[specialforces]

"Probably because..." Because it depended on the person really, but... "I dunno, it might be a group mentality thing."

[wildrover]

"You're probably right. What do I know about psychology? It's complicated."

[specialforces]

"Damn right it is. Who knows what goes on in people's heads?"

[wildrover]

"Yeah, it's hard enough just keeping up with my active thoughts. I don't need to try and figure out what the unconscious part is trying to say on top of it all."

[specialforces]

"Yeah, no kidding. Not to mention the times when you have an idea what it's trying to tell you but you're not really sure you want to hear it."

[wildrover]

Ryan froze completely for only a second but it was one obvious second. He raised his head so that he could look at Javi and say something--only he didn't, he shut his mouth before anything got out. He covered up with a weak smile and then a lame, half-hearted agreement. "Yeah."