(Untitled)

[getemtiger]

With so little to do most of the time, sitting around the hut waiting for Peter to get back from work was nothing too out of the ordinary, and nothing she particularly minded, either. Normally, though, that involved him coming home around sunset, and sunset had long since passed, leaving Mary Jane to do nothing but sit around, continuing to wait

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[daretodo]

She moves, and though I don't reach out for her right away, I roll onto my side in turn. Hovering over her, my eyes fixed on the opposite wall, not trusting my voice to stay steady should I look at her instead.

"This is our space. Our bed. I can't... I can't miss her when I'm with you, Mary Jane. I can't talk about her in our bed, just like I can't talk about home in our home. Not today. So please, don't ask me to, because I need you right now, but not... Not like this. I can miss home on my own time, but when I'm with you, I need to be with you. This isn't like before -- I'm not trying to push you out or... or protect you from my life. I'm trying to help you help me, and obsessing some more about the date is just about the least helpful thing I can imagine."

Placing a hand at her waist, I try to catch her gaze, feeling more certain as the time passes. "You know I miss home, fine, but I came back tonight because I missed you more," I continue, and ducking my head, I ghost the line of her jaw with my mouth, stopping right as I reach her ear. When I speak again, it's barely above a whisper. "I'm just sorry I kept you waiting."

[getemtiger]

Slowly letting out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding, Mary Jane let her eyes slip shut as Peter kissed along her jaw, head tilting a little farther to the side. With what he'd said before and the implication in it, staying upset would have been far too easy, but she was tired and she'd missed him and she wanted too much to believe what he was saying, to not have to think that they'd fallen back into old habits. For months now, they'd been doing well, and unsettled though she may have been, that had to count for something. It hurt, the way he'd reacted before, but she couldn't not give him the benefit of the doubt. Regardless of their problems before, that wouldn't have been fair.

"I was worried," she admitted quietly, and looked noticeably guilty for it, though she even now couldn't have quite said exactly what it was she'd been worried about. There was still a reason why his home had always been a touchy subject for them, and this has only served to prove that all over again. "When you didn't come back, I mean. I -" Cutting herself off, she glanced at him out of the corners of her eyes, hopeful and remorseful and sad all at once. "I just need you to know that you can talk to me about this, Pete," she continued, close to pleading. "But if talking won't help... Then tell me. Tell me what I can do, because I don't want you to have to deal with this alone. Just because I don't miss much about home doesn't mean I would expect the same from you, so, it's okay. I'm here, and I want to help."

[daretodo]

"I know." For all that it's the truth, the slight smile I offer her doesn't quite reach my eyes, though it's dark enough in here that I guess it doesn't really matter. It's not particularly long-lived, anyway.

Brows furrowing, I press a kiss to the corner of her mouth, chaste and without much intent, changing tact, slightly, from just a moment before. "Be the big spoon?" I ask, voice small even to my own ears, feeling a little ridiculous in spite of myself. "I just... I want to sleep, MJ. Here. With you. In our bed. So be the big spoon. That's what you can do."

[getemtiger]

At the request, Mary Jane softened a little, the corners of her mouth lowering a little further. It was an easy thing to give, but the fact that he'd had to ask at all said a lot about the state he had to have been in, making it seem a hell of a lot more important than it might have otherwise. After faltering for just a second, taken by surprise, she nodded, swallowing heavily to buy herself just a moment's more time before she responded. Knowing what to do was simple enough, but finding the words for it was exactly the opposite.

"C'mere," she murmured, though she was really the one who had to move, shifting back onto her other side again, and gesturing with a tilt of her head for Peter to settle on the bed. "And just get comfortable, Tiger. I'm right here."

[daretodo]

"Thanks," I mumble, pushing a hand through my hair as I roll onto my back. I have my doubts that I'll actually be able to fall asleep -- exhausted as I am, I'm restless, too, which is as much a byproduct of the date as it is nearly four months with limited mobility -- but it's worth a try, and Mary Jane has a knack of putting me at ease.

[getemtiger]

"Don't thank me," Mary Jane said, as reassuringly as she was able, settling with her head by his shoulder, not unlike the position she'd been in before getting upset. It was different now, though, more serious, with more intent, and she wanted to be sure he knew it, too. An arm draping over him, she held him close to her, thumb smoothing lightly over skin where she rested her hand at his waist. "I told you, this is what I'm here for. So get some rest, because I'm not going anywhere."

[daretodo]

"Don't stay up on my account," I reply, placing a hand over hers as I glance down at her out of the corner of my eye. "You sleep, too, alright?"

[getemtiger]

"Yeah, I'll try," Mary Jane said with a slight nod, not letting her voice betray how unlikely she thought the chances of her getting much more sleep were. She'd drifted off accidentally before, but now she had a whole lot more on her mind, and that wasn't anything that could be so easily ignored. What mattered was making sure that he got rest, that he didn't have to keep thinking about home. "You don't have to worry about me, it's okay."

[daretodo]

"It's my job to worry about you," I point out, huffing out a quiet laugh, and I press another kiss to her forehead, lingering a few moments longer than I might have normally, breathing in deeply through my nose. "I'm a coconut millionaire, I do it so well."

[getemtiger]

"But you have nothing to worry about," Mary Jane murmured, even managing a small smile as she looked up at him, combing the fingers of her other hand through his hair. Worried as she might have been herself, she could sell it, at least, if only out of the desire to make sure he could get some sleep. "And worrying about me won't help you rest. You can work on expanding your coconut fortune in the morning."

[daretodo]

I have plenty to worry about. She said she understands, but it can't be easy to hear, regardless. A million ways to make this up to her come to mind, but just like expanding my coconut fortune, most of them aren't conducive to sleep.

"Fine," I say on an exhale, blinking up at the ceiling. "But I want lunch tomorrow, pretty lady, so you better get at least twenty winks in."

[getemtiger]

"I said I'll try," Mary Jane replied, lifting her head to press a kiss to his jaw, and for all that she still wasn't sure she would be sleeping much at all, the tone of her voice was confident enough to suggest that she was expecting a full night's rest. He was the one who hadn't wanted to talk about it, and as such, there was no point in worrying him unnecessarily with what was on her mind. "And you're on for lunch."

[daretodo]

"Good," I say, eyes fluttering closed when her lips touch my skin, a sigh escaping the back of my throat. "I like our lunches."

[getemtiger]

"Me too," Mary Jane agreed, her smile a little more genuine. She didn't miss the days he'd been in the clinic at all, but it was still a sudden, strange adjustment having him gone most of the day when she had spent nearly all of two months at his side. To have a reason to spend a little more time with him now, given what he was working on, was all she could ask for. Without really thinking, she let her lips trail the rest of the way down his jaw, biting back a faint laugh. "Someone's gotta make sure you do important things like eat."

[daretodo]

Instinctively, I tilt my head to the side to give her a bit more room, a small, almost absent smile tugging at the corners of my mouth. "Hey, I eat on my own," I say, lifting a hand to brush back her hair. "Not well, mind you, but I do eat."

[getemtiger]

"Yeah, so it's just as likely that you'd forget and work straight through lunch if I didn't bring it," Mary Jane replied, lifting her head to flash him a small smile of her own before she continued, her mouth making its way down to his neck. It wasn't so much that she wanted to start anything - he'd said he wanted to sleep, and she had been doing exactly that when he had gotten back - but with all the time she'd spent waiting for him, it was too hard not to keep whatever contact she could. "And anyway, I like having that time with you."