So, it was early when Skye had engaged her target. In fact, a lot earlier than she had anticipated getting off of work. She'd checked her weapons at the Guildhouse, except for her personal firearm, and made the drive home in an unprecedented amount of time. There was some stupid bullshit going on downtown so the whole area was packed, which left her 'back road' route free and clear. Their house was small, despite both of their somewhat impressive incomes, and recessed from the city by only enough for her to sleep without inhaling what felt like an oil slick and pizza all night.
She parked her black Nissan Titan in the drivway - this in itself was comical, because Skye was incredibly small next to the truck, and slung her duffle bag over her shoulder. Tonight was laundry night. The house was dark, which meant Nick was gone, because his own vehicle was missing from the spot in the drive. She had heard him on the phone before she'd left that morning, so she naturally assumed he was working.
Once she got inside, she used her senses to navigate the layout of the darkened home, and threw her bag on the floor in the laundry room. She kicked off her boots and took off her long-sleeved, fitted olive green shirt, leaving her standing there in green camoflauge pants and a sheer white tanktop/bra combo. It was sort of comical, actually, because of how utterly lazy she was being. Usually she'd have been changed and making dinner by now, but she felt lethargic. She sighed as she pulled her dirty, smelly training clothes out of the bag, and poured detergent in the wash.
While that was going, still half-clothed, she meandered into the kitchen and stood in front of the fridge, trying to determine if she was eating alone or not. She figured she should call, but then again, she didn't want to wait around for him to return her if he was busy, because she'd be pissed if she sat around and didn't eat. She opted finally for a leftover cut of chicken she'd barely eaten the night before at some restaurant they'd gone to, simply eating it and walking up the stairs to the bedroom like a teenager.
There was a small trail that began at the bedroom door of clothes - socks, pants, shirt, and finally in the bathroom, the rest. She hopped into the shower, chicken still in hand, and laughed at herself as she stupidly shoved the rest of it into her mouth before it got shampoo on it. Between all of the scents in the house and the humid scent of conditioners and lotions, she managed to hear Nick before she scented him out, and hurried out of the shower before he came in and flushed the toilet on her. He'd done it before.
Of course he'd flushed the toilet on her while she was in the shower. She'd done it to him, and all was fair in love and war. He loved her to death, but she could handle cold water until she jumped out, especially since she'd gotten him while he was all soapy. He'd yelled and suffered until it warmed up again, having experienced worse about a million times in the past, but it was uncomfortable. When he walked in the house this time, he wasn't going to risk it.
He needed his own shower, and he didn't want cold water.
Nick kicked his shoes off on the stoop outside, though he was going to have to drag them and wash them off before someone stopped by. Anyone human might be a little worried that the shoes weren't just covered in mud, but also blood. The shoes were nothing in comparison to the man, though. His clothes and hair were actually DRYING with bloodied mud, and he wasn't really a happy camper. It couldn't have kept raining so that he could clean up. Nooooo, it had to stop raining and just stay all muddy where he got his guy, and that guy HAD to have a friend who just so happened to be a shifter. A shifter from out of town, who just so happened to be the biggest wolf he'd ever seen. He'd had to kill both of them to get the job done, and killing that wolf had required his lion form when the guy shifted, and rolling through the damn mud. It was messy, it was all over him and mixed with the wolf's blood, and then he'd had to track the other asshole down again. At least he'd been smart enough to sneak up and disconnect something in the engine before attacking so that there was no escape.
It didn't help now that he was all nasty.
"Oh, thank God you're done," he commented when she rushed out of the shower, poking his head into the bathroom without any worry that she'd mind him seeing her naked. What difference did it make?
She turned her head 'round over her shoulder as he poked his head in the door, and snapped her towel out like they did in the "Zest!" commercials before wrapping it around her thin frame.
"Of course, I learned my lesson the last time," she said, playfully irritated. She shouldered the door open and moved out into the absolutely, stupidly large bedroom. Biggest room in the house, by far, which was great, because her ginormous husband had insisted on a King-sized bed, which she still had not adapted to sleeping alone in. She'd taken to the couch those nights, where she could bury her face in his pillow and drift off.
"Eh!" she exclaimed, realizing what he was covered in. "Pigpen! I know I threw my stuff all over the house but it was clean!" Oh, Skye was so careful not to track anything on those carpets, even if they were mostly dark brown. It was, she had found, good at concealing stains, but still! She was sick of having them cleaned! She knew they'd had a "GET OFF THE RUG!" yelling match at least once a month, though both of them had been -trying- not to spend anymore than they had to on the shopvac.
"Laundry or...?" she asked, pointing to his clothing. They didn't really look salvagable. She sighed, though she did smile at him. He made her heart flutter a little every time he looked at her, even when he was making a face like that one he gave her for accusing him of being messy. God only knew what life would be like if he were a Pakana, but you know? Skye didn't care. He was her lion.
She slipped into her fuzzy yellow bathrobe and wrapped the towel around her hair, plopping down on the bed.
He rolled his eyes, though he wasn't taking any of what she said to heart. They rarely did. "You know, you can't have the best of both worlds. I either strip all over the floor like you did, or I wear the mess as far as the bathroom. I left my shoes outside, but I doubt you want me to give the neighbors a free show on the front porch," he told her as she slipped past and into the bedroom. He essentially traded places with her, since he took the final few steps into the bathroom and began to pull his shirt off. Caked bits of mud flaked off of him, and he glared down at them as though they were offensive, but dropped the shirt and started peeling the still-damp pants off.
Close the door? Why?
"I swear, wolves have to be the worst brand of shifter out there," he complained. Most lions would have said 'hyena', but he was a special sort of lion who happened to have married a hyena. It was....interesting. He was going to have to throw out this shirt, at least. The pants might be salvageable. Might.
She listened as he spoke, but directed her attention to her nails. She'd grabbed a metal file and was busy cleaning them and buffing out any chips. She didn't prefer for them to get snagged on anything. She'd had it happen once and ripped one of the little bastards clean off. Or, so that's what she said - there was some truth to the fact that Skye still allowed herself to be girlish and doing her nails was something.
Her eyes flicked up to him as he piled the clothes on the floor. "Hm. I'll have to wash them seperate and see how bad they are when they come out," she said with a frown. No way was she throwing that in with her clothes. She did smile a little though as he hopped around, trying to kick his foot out of the leg. Wet jeans shrank, and Nick wasn't exactly small. She knew better than to make a production out of it, or she'd end up back in the shower as he would inevitably find a way to make her regret pointing and laughing.
"I'm not inclined to agree, but they're up there," she said. "I guess your night didn't go as planned?" This was where their jobs became very different. Skye didn't have big setbacks, she had tiny hiccups that plan B, C, or D would cover. She was over-prepared for everything, and she loved it. Somehow, though, she still hadn't found a good way to get the upper-hand with the couch situation.
She titled her head a little as she watched him. It wasn't lewd, it was just... what it was. Skye payed a fairly large amount of attention to Nick when she could. The only reason she hadn't pounced on him for hugs and other various things was because he was covered with a good inch of grime, and she was nice and clean. But still, her eyes were always on him unless they absolutely needed to be elsewhere. It was almost cute if you considered her quiet nature.
"Don't even bother with the shirt," he told her, starting the water up in the shower. "It was white this morning, and it won't ever be again."
Why had he worn white? Because this was supposed to be an easy mark, and nobody expected a hitman to wear white. It seemed almost out of character, and perhaps too pure of a color for them. He'd have been fine with it all if that damned wolf hadn't been there. "The mark was there, and as easy to kill as I expected, but he had a friend from out of town with him," he told her, stepping into the shower when he was satisfied with the temperature, though he shot a look at her as he did. He caught her staring, and though it wasn't really a surprise, it was pleasant. Pleasant enough that it got a quirk of a smile out of him. He'd be much happier when the mess was off of him.
"That friend was a wolf," he added, though it wasn't really necessary. Skye was quick, and she'd have figured it out without his stating it. That was the extent of what he'd say unless she asked, though. He didn't share work with her unless she needed to know, or she was interested in hearing, and she did the same. Really, his activities weren't always legal, and he wasn't going to burden her with thinking about it all if she didn't want to know.
"How'd yours go?" he called out at her, honestly curious. She'd gotten home before him, so it must have gone well enough.
Skye didn't ask. It wasn't that she didn't want to know, but the details weren't very pressing to her because Nick had obviously walked through that front door. Now, had the situation been different, Skye would have made sure to involve herself thoroughly. She respected the privacy that came with his line of work, but there wasn't a power on that Earth that would stop her from wreaking havoc if he'd come back in a bad way. She was both a hyena and a wife, and protective of her mate as much as she could be. It was a tricky thing, that. There were certain formalities between their breeds, but she didn't even feel like thinking about it, and just settled on the idea that she'd beat the hell out of someone for hurting him.
"Beautifully. Even if it hadn't, Sitara was in position a few miles down from where I was. She's a real gem to work with," she said happily. Skye was fairly professional about her work, but she had a healthy amount of enthusiasm, if you ignored the fact that she shot people for a living. "It took all of fifteen minutes. I didn't even have to bust out the good scope," she sighed. She'd been aiming to use that new enhanced scope for a while, but so far, they'd always had a good enough location she hadn't found it necessary to waste the time.
She took the towel from her hair and hung it up on the back of the bathroom door, pulling it shut enough so that the humidity didn't set off the stupid smoke detector. She took the time to return to her personal dressing area and brush her own hair, but it was already mostly dry. It curled slightly at her shoulders as she dug through her drawer for pajamas, though she settled in her uniform of flannel shorts and one of Nick's NOT destroyed shirts that had inexplicably become too small for him to wear.
She went back to the bed and waited. If she went down to that kitchen without him, she'd eat everything before he got there.
Nick hardly even considered how she'd react if he was seriously injured, and that was mostly because it was so unlikely. The only time he'd been so badly injured that he'd required help had marked the end of his military career, and he didn't see it as being probably that he'd walk into a situation like that again. He hadn't been in charge that time, so it hadn't been his mistake that got his buddies all killed, and nearly himself. He didn't usually find kinks in his plans like this one, though.
"Good."
Washing that bloodied mud out of his hair was positively obnoxious, but it was a nicer line of thought to consider than other events, so that was what he worried about. By the time he was done, he was nice and clean, and as predicted, happier. He definitely noticed what she was wearing as he wandered off into the bedroom for a pair of pants, though.
"That dryer shrinks more of my shirts than it has any right to," he commented lightly as he pulled a pair of pajama pants on to lounge around in. He knew that she 'took care' of certain t-shirts that she liked, but it wasn't like he minded too much. They were just t-shirts, and he liked seeing her in them. Even too small for him anymore, they were too big for her. It was...kind of cute. "And you look hungry."
"Well, I did wait, at least. What are you in the mood for?" she asked, mentally going through her head what was able to be fixed on such short notice. She was pretty sure she hadn't taken anything out, which was dumb on her part because it would need to thaw, but then again, that's what a microwave was for.
Before he could get out of her range of reach, which was a fairly limited space, she reached out and wrapped her arms around him. Now that all the dirt and blood was gone, he was nice and clean and smelled something like soap and a heavy, musky scent she'd grown to respond to in a small manner like catnip. It was random moments like these that really made it obvious how hyenas could behave. She buried her face in his chest, squeezing him as tightly as she could manage.
Skye was always happy to see him. She couldn't think of a time where she'd been so mad she didn't want his presence. Oh sure, they'd fought, but she'd come and go as her temper allowed. On a normal basis, though, and perhaps it was merely how she was genetically put together, every time she saw him it was like something new all over again.
"Whatever you're willing to make," he told her with a smile as she stepped up to cuddle on him. He didn't have to be a hyena to enjoy the pakana desire for touch that she possessed, though he didn't fully realize that was even what it was with him. He'd probably never understand the full extent of that cuddle factor, but he'd seen her with Ebere and Stella, so he knew it was there. He hadn't yet met a male hyena, and so it hadn't occurred to him that the same thing could happen, and how strong it was, with one. He wouldn't be happy with that information.
His arms went around her immediately upon her touching him, and he didn't see any reason to move just yet. He'd never been a really touchy person, but he'd come to truly enjoy it when she behaved like this. To be honest, it was a huge ego boost as well, and what man, or lion, didn't like that? It made him feel good to have her want to cuddle on him or stare at him like that, even after a few years of marriage.
And everyone said that it was only the first year that was good.
Skye shrugged under his arms, not really ready to go downstairs and make dinner just yet. She turned her head and snuck a small kiss on his arm, and then looked up at him and smiled. She got that warm fuzzy feeling in her chest whenever they were this close, not exactly like the one she got with Ebere and Stella, but the of the same variety. The 'complete' sort of feeling.
"Mmh. Maybe leftovers. Suddenly thought of better way to occupy my time." And that, of course, was a stupid amount of cute overload. She rose up to her tiptoes to give him a kiss, which was funny because he still had to bend down a little. Skye always felt busy and focused at work, but mostly it was because she was shoveling stuff into her day to try and kill time until she could come home. It was sort of silly that she made a living off of doing quite bad things, and her favourite spot was on the couch, asleep while Nick watched some show he found funny that she didn't.
He'd learned early on in their relationship not to expect 'sex' to be that 'better way' of occupying her time. It happened sometimes, but he knew how much she liked cuddling on the couch. Fortunately, he wasn't one of those guys that thought he was too manly for some cuddling, so he easily obliged. That she bothered to drop chaste little kisses on places like his arms made him smile, and he really just couldn't help it. Considering how they'd met, and how firm she'd been during that period, it had surprised him how affectionate and sweet she was.
"Leftovers are fine with me," he agreed easily, leaning down to give her that kiss. He didn't think it was at all odd that she liked to lounge out and cuddle in her free time, but hunted as an occupation. He was the same way, and he wasn't about to be so hypocritical as that. Of course, he didn't actively seek attention in quite the way she did. He still went looking for it, though.
Skye wanted to remain just that way for a long, long time, but her stomach had quite the other idea. As she pulled away from the kiss, it began to make noises, and she laughed good-naturedly, pulling away from Nick before she really just forwent dinner altogether.
"Okay, give me twenty minutes," she said cheerfully. She glanced at the clock and nodded to him. "Isn't that show I hate on?" Oh, she couldn't even remember it, but he watched it as often as he could. Once he'd figured out their TiVo Skye's triumph of never having to watch that stupid television program again went out the window. She still couldn't figure out how to delete things on there, yet, either.
She hopped down the stairs, scooping up her dirty clothes as she did so, and took something out of the pantry. She'd cheat and use the Dinner in a Box method. While she waited for it to finish baking, she moved the wet clothes into the dryer and hung up everything that had the potential to otherwise shrink.
Skye really was a housewife. How disturbing.
What was truly disturbing about her ability to be a housewife was that Nick was perfectly capable of doing all of those things himself. He'd even proven it in the past by helping, especially if he was the only one home and things needed to be done. He didn't mind if she was willing to do it, though. He had his nights where he cooked, and he was alright with the laundry, though his folding involved rolling socks and t-shirts instead of really 'folding' them. It was incredibly easy to tell who'd done laundry last.
"I don't know if it's on, but I have it saved," he said simply, wandering into the living room and scanning for the remote. He surprisingly didn't turn to the TiVo immediately, and instead turned on the news.
He had the best timing ever.
He positively froze when he saw a familiar scene, with an unfamiliar face, on the TV screen. That was where he'd killed the wolf and his mark, and he paled for a second when he realized what they were looking at. He'd disposed of the bodies, TRIED to clean up the blood and had some difficulties with the landscape, and thought he'd disposed of any important evidence. He was pretty thorough, but that damn mud...and damn drivers on a deserted road. He hadn't noticed when he was fighting with the wolf, but someone had apparently approached in a vehicle and turned their ass around because they saw a lion. And he'd missed a footprint in the mud further away from the road.
"God DAMN it!" he snapped, dropping the remote on the coffee table and just staring at the screen. They didn't know where the bodies were, and were searching the area. If they found them, they'd notice that one was mauled, but one was killed by a human, of that he had no doubt. Shit.
Skye jumped from the kitchen when Nick yelled - that man had a voice. She turned the oven off and set the pan down before she burned her fingers, and then rushed into the next room, eyes wide and senses like, blaring. It wasn't until she realized the object of his damnation wasn't something she needed to destroy, but rather, their quite nice plasma screen. She blinked, and let her eyes focus on...
"Oh, shit," she said softly. And Skye didn't swear much. Without missing a beat, and this was why Nick should love her as much as he did, she retrieved the landline from the charger on the bar-style counter between the kitchen and the living room, and held it out.
"Call Jaime, before he just stumbles on this, please" she said. "I think it would be much.. less ill recieved by him if he had some sort of notice."
She had her own cellular phone in her hand, and was going to try and get into contact with someone to minimize the press. She had enough connections through her work with Crimson that she had to but ask - it was the advantage of being likeable, lovable, Skye. People were willing to do you favours; willing to owe you.
She sat down next to him, and placed a hand on his knee. She didn't know what else to do, honestly, but this, she hoped, was substantial enough for now.
He took the phone from her and immediately called his brother's cell to warn him that the scene they'd been told about had obviously been him, and Jaime said he'd handle it. Nick was confident that he would, and that the general population didn't know about shifters and vampires and the like. If they did, he'd be in deep shit over this one.
"It'll be fine," he said out loud, though whether he was telling her that, himself, or both of them, he wasn't really sure. Maybe he was just thinking out loud. "The police would never look for a human murderer after the mention of a lion, and I hid the bodies too well for them to find."
THAT he was sure of. Jaime or another shifter could potentially find them, but no human would pull that off, especially if they were looking for the work of a lion. He was pretty pissed at himself for having missed the print, even if there was nothing that could be done about the car. He'd chosen a deserted road, and he'd been unlucky enough to have someone drive down it. Sometimes, shit just happened.
Skye walked 'round to the back of the couch as she talked on her phone. When she was done, she tossed it onto the counter and began rubbing his shoulders as he spoke, nodding as he made the point that the police wouldn't ever actually get any further. She smiled a little as his reasoning became less and less the more she worked. Skye was good at the housewife thing, as stated many times before, and that definitely included things like this.
She leaned down and kissed his cheek lightly. "Cleaning up the press as we speak. It might not even make the paper; it's early enough that I caught them before they ran to print. It might be online, but not in the paper." She said nothing of his brother, knowing that despite his brattish attitude sometimes, Jaime was more than capable of handling this.
"Dinner?" she asked, hopefully. She hated to eat without him, but she would if he declined this time. She was feeling light-headed at this point.
It wasn't a joke that his reasoning became less as she rubbed his shoulders, and he leaned back a bit to make her reach over the couch easier, his eyelids falling ever so slightly. She was very good at that, and they both knew it, but he wouldn't ever try to stop her.
"Good. I can just avoid the neighbors for a week, because they'll somehow get wind of it and want to talk about it, and it'll hopefully blow over," he agreed, and that was the end of him really having anything else to say on it. She was distracting enough to convince him not to dwell on it at the moment, and he'd heard her stomach rumbling before. She was hungry, so dinner was a good idea. He'd also refrained from eating any of the wolf shifter he'd killed, so he could definitely eat now.
He hadn't been about to ruin his appetite when she was cooking, even if it wasn't homemade this time.
"Yes, dinner sounds good," he told her, standing and putting an arm around her to take her with him in that general direction as soon as he was around the couch. "You know, you should probably eat more often during the day."
"Oh?" she asked, arching a brow as he stood. "You want to pack me a little lunchbox so I can hang around in some obscure tree all day waiting for my mark?" she pried, voice playfully curious. So Skye forgot to eat sometimes. She didn't always have that option. Last week she'd been gone for two days waiting for her damn mark, and then on the way back the helo had problems and they had to make an emergency landing in Chicago and catch a flight in. Try having your rifle checked in baggage.
She headed him off to the kitchen, fixing his plate before he could accuse her of trying to take it all. She gave him more than she had, but it was due to the fact that he was flat bigger. And even though she was starving, she knew she'd take too much and end up making him finish it, anyways.
As she dug into the fridge for some soda, she turned back to him. "You know, that little old lady next to us, I swear she's got a crush on you. Every time I'm off for a few days and I go outside she wants to stop and ask me where my 'handsome husband' is. You'd better make sure our curtains are shut tight, I don't want her playing 'Room With a View' when we're sleeping."
She handed him his plate in one hand and popped the top of her Diet Pepsi with the other. She smiled at him then, because, well, Skye felt like it. He made her happy, and she let him know often. What was the point if you never told anyone?
"You know, that's a good idea. Maybe I'll pack it for you, so I can make sure you're not starving yourself on a salad or something," he teased, the worries from a moment ago being pushed to the back of his mind until they were addressed again. He told himself he wasn't going to dwell on it, and so he wouldn't.
"Huh, I didn't think about that. I was walking around naked last week with the curtains open, come to think of it. Think she could actually see in?" he asked, though he was definitely playing with her by saying it. He actually HAD probably walked around nude with the curtains open, but he didn't think the old lady had been around, or that he'd gotten that close to the windows. She'd have needed a damn telescope or something, and if she was that determined then she deserved the view.
He grabbed his own soda and headed for the table, but something did catch his attention as he started to eat. "All joking aside, it IS pretty weird that she notices when I'm not around much. That's kind of creepy. Thanks for pointing it out and making the harmless little old lady next door sound creepy. That's talent, there," he pointed out with a smile, his tone someone congratulatory.
Skye made a noise at him when he said the old lady spotted him wandering around naked. He -did- have a tendancy to just walk around like that, she'd noticed, and she'd never complain about it, but still, at least if she was running around like that she shut the damn blinds. She just shook her head as she realized he was joking, and sat down. She didn't know what to do with him sometimes.
"She notices because she doesn't see your car in the driveway. I'd be surprised if they didn't notice I was gone more, but once again, this is one of those things where you get all the attention and they forget I'm alive. I seriously think you should just distract people by standing in their line of sight, and I can rob them blind."
She chewed on her food while she waited for a response.
Yes, he was joking with her, but he wasn't making anything up. He wasn't going to be the one to point it out, though. He'd try to remember to shut the blinds next time.
"You know, that's a good idea. I'm sure I could distract someone well enough that they'd never notice you dragging expensive things out of their homes, and it'd probably be easier than killing things," he commented, looking thoughtful. No, he wasn't seriously considering it, but it was amusing to think about. The fact that it could work was pretty crazy, though.
He kept eating, and actually found that this was one of the better boxed dinners they'd found. He didn't know what it was supposed to be, really, or what brand, but it was good. "This stuff isn't half bad. We should get it again, instead of those fish sticks or whatever they were."
"Oh, god," she said, remembering those burnt little fishsticks she'd tried to cook. "That's what I get for trying to balance ironing and cooking." It was either burn her favourite shirt or burn the food; guess which she had picked? She was almost done, and surprised herself at how much she'd eaten. She picked up her plate and walked it to the sink, tossing her soda can into the trash.
"You know, times like this, I get the illusion we have a normal life." She smiled fondly at him over the counter. Now that she was happy and full, all she needed was to be warm. The temperature in the house was usually set to a solid 77 degrees, but between the shower and the shorts, she was getting chilly despite the hot, humid summer night.
She was, in fact, waiting patiently for Nick to finish so she could bury herself next to him on the couch. Skye had a fairly one-track mind when she was home, and unless there was some pressing chores to be done, her life revolved around cuddling. It was a good way to be.
"Which is why I'm going to cook the next time you insist on ironing at the same time," he told her firmly, because there was no way he was going through THAT again. He'd eaten it, but it hadn't been very good. Of course, he'd eaten worse, so he hadn't complained TOO badly until they were finished.
He was nearly finished when she got up to get rid of her plate, and that was with him taking his time. He'd spent too much time in the military, in bad situations, so he ate quickly most of the time. He'd had more to eat than she did, but that didn't matter. He was done a moment or so after she was, and he grinned at her mention of a 'normal life'. "What do you mean? We do dishes, eat dinner, relax and watch TV, and go to work. What's abnormal about that?"
Worded that way, it didn't sound weird at all, but of course their jobs weren't exactly normal. He rinsed his plate off before leaving it in the sink, opting to wash dishes later. He much preferred to wrap Skye up in his arms and rid her of any bothersome thoughts about 'normality'. "Being 'normal' is overrated, baby. I wouldn't want to be one of those people that think a flat tire is an emergency situation, and it makes me feel better to know that you're not one of them, either."
One of those women wouldn't last long in his life.
Skye laughed loudly at his comment, and pressed herself into him as he wrapped his arms around her, enjoying the warm sensation he had always presented. When he was angry he became unpleasantly hot, but those moments were far and few between.
"No, my version of an emergency is more like a phonecall at 2 AM to tell you -from the helo- that my gun jammed due to a faulty mechanism and that I won't be home for a few days because my mark was wildly on the run after I shot NEXT to his head instead of INTO his head."
And that was where being normal stopped for Skye, although as fast-paced as her job was, the snipers themselves had their own way of doing things. The ones she'd met were fairly well adjusted if not slightly over-observant and for the most part, even-tempered people. She'd learned you couldn't be a hothead in that sort of work. It would only cause error.
She turned in place and began walking into him, trying to direct him from the kitchen and towards the couch. She was like a tiny car facing off with Godzilla, though, so if Nick decided to plant himself on the ground, she'd end up mashing into him instead of moving him.
He allowed himself to be pushed backwards, though they both knew that if he chose to stop, they weren't moving anywhere. Of course, that would completely defeat the purpose of him having walked up to snuggle on her, so he wouldn't do anything of the sort. Skye usually had a fairly easy time of getting him to go along with what she wanted. There were some things that he just wouldn't agree to, but those were few and far between.
"True, but it means you're not going to get mugged coming out of the grocery store or anything," he pointed out, and he meant it. He'd have worried more if she couldn't take care of herself against an attacker and led a 'normal' life than he did now. Yeah, her job was dangerous, but so was she. If little Sitara could do it as a human, then he had faith in Skye to do it as a shifter. She could take more damage and heal than poor Sitara, and that was a definite relief for him.
Ahh, the couch.
No, the only time Skye had been in any real trouble was when she'd gotten shot back. Talk about a bad way to end the night. Her target managed to pop one off before she could finish the job, thanks to some heavy interferance. She'd gone home about the angriest she'd ever been, but she was fortunate not to have been wounded severely. The worst part was sitting on the kitchen sink while Nick pried the bullet out. She'd cried, not a lot, but a fair amount. Being shot hurt; digging the offending lead out hurt worse, especially with no anesthesia. True, she could have done it at the Guildhouse, but she was so angry she just went straight home.
"Darling, I would almost feel sorry for the person who tried to mug me," she offered, giving him a small push onto the couch. Despite the fact that she'd been the one to pick it out, and it matched NONE of their other furnature because it was massive and fuzzy and cushy, Nick may as well have pissed on it because it was clearly HIS territory.
She climbed on top of him and wedged herself between him and the cushions, propping up on one arm. The couch was big enough for her and him to occupy it at the same time, which was a must-have. She kissed his jaw lightly, because... well, because she could.
It was best that Skye didn't remind him of the time she'd been shot, since that had definitely not been one of his favorite memories. He knew how to handle people in that situation, especially his beloved Skye, but he'd hated it. He'd wanted to kill something for making her cry like that, and he'd hated himself for having to hurt her even more to pull the bullet out. It had to come out, though. The worst part was that he'd been shot plenty of times, so he knew what it felt like. Knowing that Skye, of all people, had been feeling that just made his blood boil. She hadn't been kidding when she said his skin got hot when he was angry, though he didn't really notice. It was probably a result of a control issue. Anger had him one step closer to shifting, so there was energy build-up. He didn't have to struggle not to, usually, but that was the best theory to explain it. Either way, he'd been furious that night.
"I wouldn't. They'd get what they deserved," he pointed out, though he didn't say it until he was already flopped down on the couch after she pushed him. It wasn't like it caught him off guard or anything, so he just waited to speak until he was situated, and then there she was making herself comfortable. Perfect. He smiled at the little kiss on his jaw, and he returned it with one of his own lightly dropped on her lips.
Skye welcomed the kiss. She was always affectionate with her husband; she was thankful he returned her attention as much as she gave it. She'd dated people in the past who hadn't, and it drove her crazy. Or they misinterpereted her designs, which also drove her crazy. She sighed a little and rested her chin on his chest, eyes moving to the TV for a moment.
"So how do you think this is going to pan out?" she asked, bringing back up the news report. She had faith Jaime would control as much as he could; where he could not, she would try, but still. This couldn't keep happening.
Fortunately, he'd learned rather quickly just how physically affectionate she was without getting sexual, and he'd risen to the occasion. As a lion, he liked being lazy and sleepy when he could, and that fit right in with her snuggling. It was very fortunate that it had worked out that way, for both of them, since it allowed them both to simply be comfortable with each other. Neither of them could have truly been happy with a human mate.
When she asked her question, he didn't immediately answer and instead reached to grab the remote off of the coffee table so that he could deposit it on her belly. "It'll start with you changing the channel," he told her simply. Yes, he was worried, and yes, this wasn't good, but he knew better than to stress over it. Logically, human authorities would never connect him to the incident even without Jaime's help, but there was no way a single print and someone claiming to have seen a lion would push the case in that direction. He could almost hear Jaime saying it already. "Hoax. How would we miss a freakin' LION running around here? He probably made the print himself.'
Yeah, he wasn't going to stress it.
She obliged, turning the TV over to a rerun of Seinfield and tossing it back onto the coffee table, which, when she tried to reach across Nick, was just too far for her to manage to get to without having to actually sit up. That wasn't happening, either, so, in an arc it flew, landing with a loud noise. At least the batteries didn't fly out this time. Probably because she'd taped it shut.
She tilted her head as she looked at him, still halfway ontop of his chest from having tried to release the remote back into the wild. "Okay, done. Now what?" she asked, a hint of mischief in her voice. Skye was like a cat in some respects after all. For no reason sometimes she would just tear around the house like something hellaciously amusing was going on in her own little head. Or she would wrestle with Nick, and then once he pinned her, get up and walk away like nothing had happened.
This was starting to shape up like the latter of the two as she jammed a finger in his side between his ribs, where she knew was the one ticklish spot on his entire body.
Seinfeld wasn't exactly what he'd consider 'better', but he could deal with it instead of that news report, so he didn't complain. His eyes flicked to watch the remote sailing through the air, though. How the batteries stayed inside was beyond him, but he hadn't taken notice of whether or not Skye had taped the little battery cover in place, so that seemed to be the only explanation. He'd take it, and not worry about the little contraption breaking from his wife's abuse. It was a tough remote.
"Weeeeeeell, we could always be lazy and just stay where we are for awhile," he offered, though he twitched at the poke to the one little ticklish spot he possessed and nearly yelped. He covered it up with about as much dignity as he was able to muster quickly, and gave her a stern look. "Or that, of course."
Naturally, he was going to have to retaliate if she wanted to play that way, which he was betting she would. That was why he took hold of her at her waist to prevent her escape and leaned in suddenly to quickly lick at her neck, but that wasn't the trick. An instant later, he blew on it, just to tease her.
He had to wonder if she'd let it slip to Ebere and Stella that he was ticklish there, though. That could be bad for him.
Skye tried to move back before he could respond in kind, but she just wasn't fast enough. Even in their animal form, Nick was damn reflexive for a large animal. She could run faster, but still. Pouncing was all him. Which explained her situation now, while she struggled like mad to get away from him. One hand would have been enough to hold her down, but he'd layed an entire arm across her waist, effectively pinning her to the couch helplessly.
She wiggled, kicked, and shrieked, all while laughing and trying to take swipes at him. "STOOOP!" she howled, crying she was laughing so hard. "That is NOT fair!" She leaned in quickly and tried to bite him, but he was too fast, and she snapped at air.
He laughed at her struggles, finding it to be almost...cute. It wasn't like she was going to get away unless she whined and he actually believed her. Or, he chose to just let her go. He wasn't likely to do that just yet. "Not fair? How is it not fair? You're just making up new rules now," he said with an evil sort of grin, ignoring her kicking and shrieking as he avoided a bite.
"That's not nice, Skye," he told her, leaning in again to kiss the spot he'd licked a moment ago. He was expecting another bite attempt from her, but he could take it, and he'd nibble at his current point of interest if she tried that.
"You're going to make that nosy neighbor of ours think I'm murdering you or something. She'd probably help me clean up the evidence if I asked her out to dinner, you know," he commented, all teasing. In reality, that lady actually creeped him out. Not in the 'wow, dangerous, get away from me way', but in that 'you're seriously weird' way. Like those people that just STARED at a lion at the zoo, being all creepy and talking about how absolutely beautiful the animal was. There was a line between admiration and downright weirdness, and that neighbor had crossed it somewhere along the line. He didn't mind teasing Skye about her, though.
If Nick nibbled on her neck, she would have to call this playful stuff quits and drag him upstairs. Although, it really wouldn't be dragging, since dragging usually indicated that you were forcing someone to go somewhere, and she couldn't think of a time she had ever had to try and bargain with Nick to get him into bed.
She squirmed more, but she didn't bite at him again, instead tolerating the attention with a large pout on her face, like it was the end of her world. Quite the opposite, actually. She felt youthful and giddy every time he indulged some of her more playful moods; Nick was so serious sometimes. So was she, though, so she couldn't rightly fault him.
"Ebere has offered to go over there and bite her," she said casually, as though it would be the most normal thing in the world for a hyena to trot into someone's yard and maul them.
He didn't nibble on her neck, at least not yet, but he caught the way she pouted and let him do what he wanted. That was why he left her neck alone, instead shifting to kiss her gently on her lips. It had to be interesting for such a large, powerful shapeshifter especially to be so gentle, but Skye was special. He'd gotten himself accustomed to delicate tasks during his military career, so he wasn't incapable of it, but it still came as a surprise to some people.
It shouldn't have to Skye, though.
"Don't look so unhappy, or I might think I'm doing something wrong and stop. Unless you want me to leave you alone?" he asked, though the way his eyebrow rose made it obvious that he didn't think so. "I'm sure that lady needs to see that we have a weird dog, on top of everything else she already thinks."
He assumed the woman would think a hyena was a dog if she saw it in this setting, anyway. How many humans recognized a hyena in person if it wasn't in its proper place? Some might, but he doubted that all did.
She made a strange squawking noise in protest to referring to any Pakana as a 'weird dog', but before she could protest he was kissing her again. Anything rude she was going to say melted away as she relaxed into his arms.
"Hm, you know, I wonder how it is we got this lucky?" she asked, playing with one of his hands with her own. She put her palm down on it, like she did every time, staring in wonder at how much bigger his hands were. Lightly, she ran her nails across it, from his wrist to his fingertips.
"I mean, most people in the Guilds never see their homes, or enjoy their money, or... anything. I somehow landed a normal life," she mused. "Oh! That reminds me. I'm buying some strawberries and whipped cream tomorrow. Is there anything else you need from the grocery store?"
She looked up at him expectantly.
Nick was personally glad he'd halted her in complaining about his mention of a 'weird dog', since that was definitely the only thing he'd said that he could see her not liking, and her relaxation was exactly what he'd wanted. Amazing that a little kiss could do that.
"I don't know, but I'm not about to argue it," he told her, rather unwilling to dissect it, lest they jinx themselves.
Yes, jinx. Nick had spent his entire childhood in Louisiana, and he'd picked up his fair share of superstitions. He'd killed off a good chunk of the accent in his military career and work as a mercenary, but it still slipped, and it could still be heard. The superstitions were less obvious, but still there.
"Strawberries and whipped cream?" he asked, perking up. That was the end of superstitious thoughts. He guttered it. Instantly. A million other 'fun' things came to mind, but he squashed most of them down. "Chocolate syrup."
He was entirely innocent. Really!
Skye was immensly satisfied with his reaction, although her poor husband hadn't realized she was taunting him. She smiled brightly. "Okay, great. Actually, you ate all the ice cream, so I need to get more anyways. Perfect, when I make that strawberry shortcake we can have that with it."
She beamed, and oh, she was deliciously evil sometimes. She knew Nick would catch on eventually, and so she tensed, waiting for him to do something despicably cute and annoying to her in retaliation.
Now she was going to have to make a cake, though. Oh well, she could probably try to pawn some off on Jaime. She planned to invite him over later for Sunday dinner or something. She hadn't seen him in a while, but now she knew she owed him a small gratitude. Plus, she really liked seeing how much those two could eat.
She could think she was evil and that she'd been taunting him all she'd like, but he had an image in his head that involved chocolate syrup and her belly button -- her entire stomach, to be more precise -- and he wasn't about ti just drop that from his mind. She didn't know it yet, but that chocolate syrup was likely to see more than just ice cream.
So was the whipped cream, actually. If he had anything to say about it, anyway.
"You know, you don't need to bother making a cake or anything. All we need is the strawberries and whipped cream," he told her, and the slight smirk that crossed his lips as he leaned up for a less chaste kiss than he'd been giving her lately should have told her exactly where his mind was.
It was her own fault, too.
She laughed as he kissed her, a silly thing to be sure, and pulled away, slapping him in the face lightly. "Oh, you're so dirty!" she exclaimed. Skye had only recently learned about some of this from Stella. She hated to admit she wasn't very explorative, although from the sounds of it, Nick was more than willing to help her along. She almost blushed right then and there thinking about it, and made a mental note to throttle Stella the next time she saw her.
At least now her ego was slightly inflated. Nick wasn't the only one who took something out of being desired. Skye was just slightly different about it. She sat up, and climbed slowly over him to get off of the couch, and then stared pointedly.
"I'm going to bed." She bent down and gave him a little kiss, and then escaped for the stairs as she heard him make a noise of protest. She paused at the center before she ascended past the lower level completely.
"You coming?" she asked.
She bet he was.
That was a bet she wasn't losing, though he just sort of STARED after her when she got up and ignored his protesting. He'd been just fine with the couch, and now she had to get up and go to bed?
Wait. Nevermind, he wasn't complaining.
Usually, they slept when they went upstairs, unless one of them pressed the issue and things got interesting. This would be one of those nights, between the looks she was giving him and the thoughts flashing through his brain currently. Even without the chocolate syrup and whipped cream, this would be quite enough to satisfy.
He was up those stairs in record time, and half-carried, half-kissed her to the bed.