A Conspicuous Conspiracy (Ch. 9)
Title: A Conspicuous Conspiracy
Author: clanket
Pairing: Callie/Arizona
Rating: 14A/T
Summary: Callie and Arizona are best friends. As they navigate through their final year of high school, will they realize that they're more than just friends?
Disclaimer: All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. As this work is an interpretation of the original material and not for-profit, it constitutes fair use. Reference to real persons, places, or events are made in a fictional context, and are not intended to be libellous, defamatory, or in any way factual.
Ch. 9
She immediately rests her head on my left shoulder and snuggles into my side with her arms firmly pressed between me and her chest, just like she's done since we were kids.
I put the TV volume to a minimum and wrap my arm around her lithe body in anticipation of the Sandman.
Ugh. I let out a small groan as I wake up at what feels like an ungodly hour. It really sucks waking up to gray skies 360 days of the year. When I open my eyes I'm greeted with twinkling baby blues staring back at me. I blink a few times then close my eyes to take stock of my body. No aches, that's good; I'm nice and cozy, I smile; then I feel my hand move. I clear my throat as I notice that my hand is resting on Arizona's hip. Do I even do awkward things in my sleep now?
Sure, we snuggle all the time but I've never been this hands-y with Arizona. We lie next to each other and steal warmth and often use each other as our own personal pillows but hands are rarely involved unless it's to soothe. I just hope this won't be some short-lived fluke. Maybe if I use my hands more she'll let me use them in more places, too. I am a rather tactile person…
I can't help but smile at that thought.
Whatever, I'm just gonna go ahead and leave it there. After how cozy we got on the couch and then in the hot tub and not to mention the fact that Arizona could have moved it while I was sleeping if she wanted to, I'm going to guess that it doesn't bother her, either.
I open my eyes again to find that Arizona is still just watching me with a small smile on her face. She looks infinitely more alert than I feel.
"What?" I ask her lazily.
"Nothing. Just waiting for you to wake up," she tells me in the same tone.
"What time is it?"
I watch Arizona as she shifts one arm from her chest underneath her and rises up slightly to look at the alarm clock on the bedside table behind me then settles back down.
"Almost ten," she says as she brushes some hair out of my face. I guess it's not that early, after all. After thanking her, I roll onto my back to stretch. Arizona gives me a few moments to wake my muscles then sneakily scoots into my side to rest her head on my shoulder as I stretch my arms. Aside from telling her to get away from me I really have no choice but to wrap my arm around her. I mean, anything less would just be rude. Oh I am so hard done by sometimes!
I chuckle a little at myself.
"What are you thinking about?" she asks me.
I look down into her face and smile slightly then reply, "Nothing. Why do you look so much more awake than me?"
She smiles gently and sighs then answers me after breaking eye contact.
"I've been up for a little while. I slept well."
"Oh you did, did you?" I can feel her cheeks move as she smiles into my shoulder.
"Yeah, I did."
I squeeze my left arm a little more tightly around her to let her know that I understand what she's saying, that she doesn't have to say it out loud.
"Lazy Sunday morning?" I ask after a few minutes of silence.
"Lazy Sunday morning," she replies.
We lay under the covers for a while, letting our bodies wake up naturally. It feels nice to go to bed every Saturday knowing that she'll be there when I wake up. It makes opening my eyes bearable - even pleasant, actually. Seeing her next to me has always brought a sense of calm over my being, even before all this confusing crush stuff came along.
She's always been there for me, through everything. She was there when my grandma died in third grade; she was there for me throughout my parents' trial separation back in middle school; she was there when I had my first kiss and then helped calm my nerves when I knew my 'first time' was coming. And that's not even touching on the day to day rollercoaster that is life. But she was there; she's always been there.
I turn toward the warm body pressed against me and wrap my other arm around it, holding it to my chest tightly. My reverential feelings wouldn't allow me to not show her just how she made me feel in this moment: grateful. Grateful that I have her, grateful for someone who doesn't disappear when the going gets tough; grateful for a lifelong friend.
I let out a sigh and another soft chuckle.
"What do you keep laughing at?"
"I just thought of Travis Morrison," I tell her with a smile.
She laughs lightly then says, "Oh, God, that douche? I still can't believe he was your first."
"Whatever, I don't remember Tania being any better."
I can feel her lift her head to look at me but I can't seem to wipe the smirk off my face.
"You take that back, Calliope," she tells me while poking me in the side, "we agreed never to speak of her again! My official first was Stefanie. And she was awesome."
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I know." I feel her snuggle back into me and I let out a long breath. "Thank you."
"For what? I'm the one stealing your body heat." I can feel her smile into my chest.
"For being you. And for always being there," and I'm sure she can feel my sincerity even through my light tone because I've never meant anything more. I squeeze her tight again.
"To what do I owe all the cuddliness this morning?"
"I was just thinking."
"That's dangerous," Arizona jokes.
"Hey, I resent that - I'm great and my thoughts are great."
"Then tell me what these great thoughts are," she prompts me softly after some snickering.
I take a few breaths then answer her. "I was just thinking about stuff. About us, I guess. And about how you've always been there for me. I guess what you said last night just kind of drove it home."
"What I said last night?"
"Yeah, the soul mate thing. I know I like to tease you about cheesy stuff like that, but I totally get what you were saying, and I feel it, too. We've always had each other to lean on and I never want that to go away."
I feel Arizona shift in my arms as she removes a hand from between us then wraps it around my middle and hugs me back tightly.
"It won't," she says with a squeeze.
"Promise?" I don't want to seem insecure but I'm serious about not being able to survive without her in my life.
Arizona pulls her head back from my chest just enough to look me in the eyes.
"Promise," she replies and seals it with an Eskimo kiss.
I smile at her. "So I guess this is gonna be our new thing, huh? The nose rubs?"
"If you want it to be," she answers teasingly. I softly rub my nose against hers in silent response.
We lapse back into a comfortable silence. I refuse to be the one to break this calm. I've never held Arizona like this unless it was to comfort her and even those occasions were few and far between. After a few minutes, Arizona finally breaks the quiet.
"Can I ask you something?"
I mumble a quick 'mhmm', still not quite ready to start the day.
"What was with that whole garter thing last night?"
My eyes pop open. Well that's out of the blue.
"What do you mean?" I ask and gulp. I can feel her move to look up at me.
"I don't know. It's just that of all the wedding traditions that's the one that pops into your mind as the one to hang onto?"
I let out the breath I was holding.
What do I say, 'I mentioned it because I would like nothing more than to be the one to take lingerie off you using only my teeth'? I mean the dreams were kind of awesome after thinking about that last night but that's probably not the best answer.
"I don't know. It was just the first thing that came to mind," that's kind of true. "And I think it's sexy and I feel like if the bride gets to throw her bouquet into a throng of crazy single women then the guys should be able to throw a garter at the drunken bachelors and watch 'em scrap for it."
I shrug my shoulders and feel Arizona nodding under my chin.
After a while I suggest that we go eat breakfast and figure out plans for the day. While we were eating Arizona mentioned continuing our lazy morning and stretching it into a lazy afternoon and evening as well so we called a few friends and made plans to meet at the bowling alley downtown later on. And that leads me to where I am right now: Arizona lying on the plush carpet in front of me, stretched out on her stomach with her arms folded under her head in my abandoned living room inside my equally abandoned house. I'm lying on my left side with my head propped up on an elbow to allow me to see over the body in front of me.
We agreed on watching as many of the movies in the X-MEN series as we could before having to get ready to go out.
Under the blanket we're sharing, my right hand idly draws abstract patterns onto the skin of Arizona's back that's been revealed in the gap between her pyjama bottoms and long-sleeve tee.
I'll occasionally rake my nails over the area I'm tickling to soothe it. Mostly I just let my fingertips roam over the flesh as they see fit. I do this all the time without even thinking about it; it's a gesture I used to make to calm Arizona when her nerves got the best of her but along the way it just became second nature whenever she's near and we're relaxing.
I smile as I let my touch become so light that I can caress the fine little hairs on the small of her back. It feels really natural but somehow I'm sure it's actually quite intimate to be rubbing someone this way. I'd like to rub her in some other intimate ways, too. I smirk at the dirty thoughts running through my mind.
My hand responds on its own to my thoughts, pressing into Arizona's back more firmly. I massage the slight curve just above her waistband, rubbing circles into the flesh on my way to the little dip just above it. When I apply some pressure to the base of her spine I can see Arizona take a deep breath and release it slowly. I'm glad she can unwind here. Things can be a little intense at her house wi-
Holy crap! This is not happening. Reverential feeling gone; lusty feelings, welcome back!
Arizona turned over onto her side in front of me, effectively pressing her entire body into mine. I let out a breath that gets caught in my throat a couple times before landing on her nape only to tickle the blonde wisps that have escaped her ponytail. The shift in position has made my hand fall across her abdomen. How is this not odd to her?
I guess I should make it look like I'm unaffected right? That's what people do when their best friend touches them - act normal, yes? Yes, that feels like a solid plan. Now, implement it, damn it!
I take in a steadying breath to compose myself then clear my throat. I let my hand continue its soothing motions even if the last thing it's doing for me is getting me to relax.
I bite my lower lip, keeping my eyes on the TV, and trail my fingers from Arizona's hip to her stomach. Her incredibly smooth stomach. Wow, I'm gonna need to ask her which moisturizer and body wash combo she uses because she is way too soft! How have I never noticed that before?
I splay my hand out over her tummy to feel as much of her as I can. I smile when I feel her abs twitch under my palm but I'm completely caught off-guard by what she does next.
Just when I teasingly swipe the pads of my fingers over her stomach, Arizona pushes her hips back, basically grinding her ass into me. Our height difference means that she fits perfectly into the space at my front when I lay on my side; this also means that where she's grinding - well it's not exactly an innocent place. I gasp. Seeing as my chin is basically on her shoulder there is no way she missed that. Was that an intentional move or just a reflex to being tickled?
I don't want to be too obvious with her here, but this feels too good for me to just move away - even if I could. But at this point I'm pretty sure that all higher cognitive functions in my brain have been turned off, anyway.
I let my middle finger dip gently into her bellybutton then swirl it just around the cavity. I know how sensitive some people's navels can be and I don't want her to yelp.
When I'm done there, I move my hand a little lower to lightly run my nails on the skin just peeking out above her pyjamas, my first knuckles scraping against the comparatively rough material.
Just as I finish this motion, Arizona rotates her upper body until she's face-to-face with me, forcing me to lean back a bit, and looks me straight in the eyes.
"Calliope, you need to stop that," she says seriously.
I'm pretty sure I've put on one of my best confused looks.
"What?"
"Look at your hand."
I do as I'm told and glance to where my fingers are now resting but were lazily playing just moments ago.
"You see where that hand is?" she asks. I'm not too sure where she's going with this. I nod slightly.
"It's barely above my pants. My hung-super-low-on-my-hips pants. You do realise what that means, right?"
"Umm," I don't really know what to say to that so I shift my eyes from side to side a few times to convey as much.
"Okay, I'm a lesbian, remember?"
All I can do is raise an eyebrow, still not quite getting it. Of course she's a lesbian. In fact it's kind of what I've been banking on, lately. How many times can she clarify that point within 24 hours?
"I know we're best friends - obviously - but that doesn't mean that I can totally turn it off, you know? And I know you're only doing it as a nice, friendly, soothing gesture but that doesn't help," she says exasperatedly. What the hell is she talking about?
"You can't turn what off?"
She huffs.
"Look, I'm laying here watching Rebecca Romijn-Stamos in nothing but blue body paint with your -" she stops abruptly and lowers her eyes to my body and gestures erratically. "Your warm curvy-ness pressed against my back and you're tickling my stomach except it's not just my stomach - it is my lower stomach," she enunciates in a deep voice and with a squint of her eyes, "and you're caressing it and touching it and you won't stop!" she finishes, whining by the end.
Oh, I think I get it. My face moves past its confused expression to a slow-forming smile.
"Arizona Robbins, are you telling me that you're turned on?" I ask teasingly. She huffs again and rolls her eyes into the back of her head.
I gasp. "You are! You are totally turned on right now!" I say with a laugh.
"Whatever, Callie. You just need to stop it. It was totally Mystique"
I turn my smile into a smirk and lean forward so that I'm hovering over her. I use my forefinger alone to draw lazy circles of varying sizes just inside her hipbone. I'll show her it was only Mystique.
"Oh yeah?" I challenge as I lean in closer to her, my index finger still working its magic. "So you're telling me that my finger is doing nothing for you?"
I move my body closer, making sure I'm completely pressed up against her. I let my hand continue making small patterns across her exposed abdomen.
"You're saying it doesn't feel good to have my warm curvy-ness curled against you?" I keep slowly moving my face toward hers and allow my voice to drop an octave. "You don't like it when I…touch you?" I quirk an eyebrow and flatten my hand lightly over her lower stomach, letting my pinkie and ring fingers to barely peek under her waistband, before going back to ticking the skin with my fingers. I'm mere inches from her face and I can feel this starting to backfire pretty quickly. She's not the only one getting turned on anymore.
"You don't want me to kiss you senseless?" I bite my lip seductively and watch as she lowers her gaze to my mouth for a few moments before returning it to my eyes. "You don't want to stare into my eyes as you take me right here, having me moan-"
"You're an ass," Arizona states as she places both palms on my chest and pushes me off of her. I roll onto my back and immediately burst out laughing. She turns back onto her side to face the TV muttering under her breath.
"You could always take a cold shower," I tell her between giggles and she turns to glare at me, "you could even double up on the remedies and fly solo in there while you're at it," I wink at her. That actually doesn't seem like a bad plan right now…
She lets out a frustrated groan and quickly stands up to leave, pulling the blanket off of me in the process. I prop myself up on one elbow and put the tip of my thumb from the other hand into my mouth then call out her name.
"Or I could give you a hand," I tell her suggestively. Please take me up on that offer?
Arizona glares at me for a moment then responds with, "It's all Mystique. Sexy blue body suit," and finishes by emphatically crossing her arms across her chest.
I look at her and smirk then gesture down my body saying, "Sexy Mexican birthday suit."
Arizona turns on her heel and heads upstairs, for that cold shower no doubt, leaving me alone with my laughter and dirty thoughts.
Next Chapter