"This is Not the Most Obvious Thing" (The West Wing, Donna/Amy)
Title: This is Not the Most Obvious Thing
For: femslash07
Recipient: ladyvivien
Rating: NC-17
Fandom: The West Wing
Spoilers: through 'Privateers'
Pairing: Donna/Amy
Word Count: 2,921
Summary: Amy's always there.
Disclaimer: This doesn't belong to me.
*
Amy's always there.
Really. Always. Okay. Not always, but. Still. She's in the west wing more than any other member of the first lady's staff. In fact, Donna can honestly say that she couldn't pick most of them out of a line-up. But she could pick Amy out of a line-up, which is going to be very handy if Amy ever starts snatching purses.
Donna takes a moment to be amused by the mental image of Amy running through the halls with an armful of handbags. When she looks up, Amy's there.
Of course.
"Is Josh around?"
Donna shakes her head. "He's at lunch. You want me to tell him you were looking for him?"
"I'll catch up with him later." Amy studies her for a moment. "What's so funny?"
"I'm not laughing."
"You're smiling. Did Josh put superglue on my stapler?"
Donna shakes her head. "Not as far as I know. I was just... imagining you as a burglar. It makes sense in my head," she adds in response to Amy's incredulous stare.
"Okay," she says slowly. "Bye."
"Bye."
Then Amy's gone, but she's still kind of there. She's everywhere. Amy wants to see Josh, Amy's on the phone, Amy's leaning towards her, Amy needs something. Will, Josh, Leo, CJ, everyone says: Amy. Then there's that voice in her head, and Donna doesn't know what to make of its tone.
She can't escape Amy; she's not certain she wants to.
*
Donna's not in love with Amy, of that she's sure. She's pretty certain that she's never been in love, not really, but that is another story entirely. She just considers Amy, thinks of Amy, imagines Amy. Doing things.
It doesn't need to be explained further.
But it's not love, thank God, because there's Amy and Josh, and maybe Josh wants there to be a Josh and Donna, but maybe he's still invested in Josh and Amy, and maybe Donna doesn't know what she wants.
Maybe she wants love, but not with Josh (or maybe with Josh, because there was a time when she was infatuated with him); Amy, but not with a sweeping romantic need; to ignore complications without making it all more complicated.
She wants everything to make sense, but most of all, she wants Amy to touch her.
*
"No, I don't want to be your wingman." It's a sentence she never thought she'd say, but working for Josh has led her to say stranger things. Donna shakes away the tangent and looks into Josh's hopeful eyes. "It's not even a correct term for me."
"You don't need to get caught up in the semantics of it. Women have come a long way." He smiles. She sighs.
"Yes, Josh. The main goal was the right to hang out in a bar with a couple of drunken men. I think that was on a sign Susan B. Anthony made."
"Are you coming?" Toby asks impatiently. Donna tries to remember a moment when he sounded patient. She fails. "I will leave you here."
"That's not much of a threat," Josh says.
"Josh--"
"I'm just saying, you know."
"Josh--"
"I'm not trapped here if you leave." Josh looks at her. "So, are you definitely not coming?" She nods. "Hey, wait," he says as he tries to catch up to Toby. In the distance, she hears them yell out their goodbyes. She answers with a mumbled:
"G'night."
She puts on her coat, gets her bag, but her keys seem to be missing. She thinks: Maybe Amy stole them. The very in-joke makes her smile. Then, she imagines Amy promising to give her back the keys in exchange for... things and she blushes. She turns around, and of course, Amy's there.
"Oh. Hey. Hi."
"Hey," Amy replies. "Where's Josh?"
It's always Josh.
"He just left with Toby. Out drinking. They asked me, but I had better things to do. Well, not really, but I said I did." Her speech starts to slow as she realizes the pathetic nature of her admission. She finally finds her keys under some papers on her desk. "So. Anything I could help you with?"
"Not really. I was just going to ask Josh to buy me a welcoming drink."
"Welcoming drink?"
"A drink to welcome me to the White House." She stares at her. "It makes as much sense as you picturing me as a burglar. More, really."
"Point taken." She hesitates. "So. You want me to take you out for a welcoming drink?"
"Sure," Amy replies.
*
In the back of her mind, Donna was hoping this 'welcoming drink' would make her less discomforted by Amy. Or at the very least, that Amy would do something to lessen Donna's attraction to her. What, Donna doesn't know. She hasn't really been thinking ahead a lot tonight.
Point is, Amy's not doing anything to keep Donna from being intrigued. And more to the point, Amy's not doing anything much at all. Just leaning back in her chair and staring at Donna, as if she were a boss about to begin a job interview.
Okay, maybe Amy *is* doing something: making Donna nervous.
"So," Donna raises her half empty glass. "We should toast. To your new job."
"Yeah." She clinks her glass against Donna's and takes a small sip of her drink. "Are you sleeping with Josh?"
"No. Okay. So."
"Good."
"You decided to have a drink with me just to ask if I was having sex with Josh."
"Not exactly."
"Not exactly?"
"No. I just wanted to know."
"Okay?"
"I didn't want to hit on you if you were fucking my ex-boyfriend," Amy says.
Donna's a little stunned by how nonchalant Amy is, as if she always asks possible paramours if they're fucking Josh. And maybe she does. Who knows what Josh is doing with the few hours he spends away from the office?
"Okay. You want to hit on me. That's fine."
"I thought you'd sound more excited."
"Well, I," Donna says. "I'm just a little surprised. Excited?"
"Yes."
"Because you think I've been lusting after you or because you just believe everyone should be excited by the prospect of sleeping with you?"
Amy smiles. "Little bit of both, now that you mention it."
*
Donna, even with alcohol and the vague promise of sex, still feels nervous around Amy. Because... well, there's about twenty reasons, but the most pressing one is that Amy keeps asking her about her relationship with Josh. When did you start working for him? Did he ever talk to you about me? Because I'm sure a lot of what he said was untrue. Did Karen Cahill really send your panties to the office? Really? I thought he made that up.
So, some of the questions are less about Josh and more about mocking her. Which is not really conducive to Amy's supposed desire to hit on her.
"Look," Donna says, "if you want tips on getting Josh back, I can't really help you."
"I don't want Josh back."
"Then why are we talking about him?"
Amy shrugs. "He's a topic I know we're both familiar with."
"You say one thing about wanting to hit on me, then you're talking about Josh, which... it's confusing."
"Many have called me an enigma." She pauses, goes back to studying Donna. "You really wanted me to hit on you?"
"You're insane. Why are you so insane?"
"I'm not insane, I'm droll. Anyway, it's not my fault that you seem so straight."
Donna calms down a little. "In your defense, I suppose I mostly am."
"I'm one of the few to pierce your heterosexuality? I'm honored."
Donna wrinkles her nose. "You're still making fun of me, aren't you?"
"A little," she replies. "But it's affectionate."
*
The drunker she gets, the more comfortable she gets around Amy. And Amy seems to get more comfortable too, to the point where she is brazenly (and seriously) hitting on her. Putting her hand on Donna's thigh, whispering in her ear, asking her about other women she's slept with.
But when she admits that one of those women was Karen Cahill, Amy goes back to laughing at her.
"Well," she says, "I won't send your panties to the White House."
"Maybe I should keep them on, though. You know, just to be sure."
Amy moves her hand further up Donna's leg, coming thisclose to her underwear. She's almost certain that they're actually going to have sex right where they're sitting, but Amy stops as she says, "Should we get out of here?"
"Are we seriously doing this?"
Amy doesn't answer.
*
The cab ride over to Amy's building is silent and strangely devoid of groping. Maybe they really aren't doing this, which might be a good idea since they shouldn't be doing this.
Jesus. Donna should've just gone out with Josh and helped him pick up women. Then Amy's breath is warm on Donna's neck and Amy's saying, "Do you still want me to fuck you?" as if all of the evening has been a smooth and slow seduction, and Donna's thinking that she's had worse nights, right? This has got to be better than what happened with Cliff, at least, or that girl who seemed distressed at the idea of oral sex. And not just because Donna no longer keeps a diary and is pretty certain Amy's had enough sex to properly deal with the messiness that comes with going down on someone.
"Well," Amy says, "do you want me to fuck you?"
"Yes."
*
After they enter Amy's apartment, Amy pulls her into a kiss. It's a little too forceful, but it's closer to what she imagined being with Amy would be like. Then Amy's fingers are on the buttons of her blouse, nails scraping against bits of skin as she starts to undress Donna. It's not long before she's naked and on her back, thinking, Yes, this is what I had in mind.
Amy pins her to the bed during the next kiss, palms pressed against Donna's shoulders as she rocks her hips against Donna's stomach. It only lasts for a moment, but Donna can feel how wet and warm Amy is. Amy pulls away, and Donna just watches as Amy's mouth travels down her stomach until her tongue is tracing the outer lips of her sex.
Her hands grip the sheets, although her instincts compel her to slide her fingers through Amy's hair. But Amy, she might not like that. Amy, she might stop doing what she's doing. And Donna, she does not want that. But Amy does stop anyway, though not until Donna's even wetter than she was. She crawls up Donna's body, nipping at her skin as she moves. Amy's tongue dips out against Donna's chin as she slides a hand between her legs. A finger brushes over Donna's clit, quickly replaced by the firm pressure of Amy's thumb. Donna throws her head back as her hips arch, the action rewarded with two fingers sliding deep inside her. Amy sucks on a patch of skin, keeps her hand moving until Donna is coming around her fingers.
Amy smiles before reclining on the bed. She glances over at Donna. "You like that?"
"No."
Amy's head swivels. "Really?"
"No. Just wanted to see what your reaction would be." Donna smiles as she leans in. "It was actually funnier than I imagined."
Donna kisses Amy as she moves a hand to her breast. She swirls her fingers over her nipple, then moves her mouth to the place where her fingers lay. She licks and kisses her way down to Amy's curls, smelling Amy's arousal before she spreads her lips open and dips her tongue inside. She runs her tongue over Amy again as she slides a finger inside her, then another. Amy's surprisingly quiet, but her body reacts, clenching around Donna's fingers and arching against Donna's mouth. Then she's climaxing, hips thrusting forward as her hands grip onto the sheets.
She lies down next to Amy. "Did you like that?"
"No."
"I'm sure."
"Damn. Your reaction wasn't funny at all."
"Sorry to disappoint."
"That's okay," Amy mutters.
*
When Donna wakes up, Amy is still asleep, curled up with her back facing Donna. She thinks it's probably a good idea to leave, but she doesn't.
Soon, Amy's awake.
*
She feels awkward sitting at Amy's kitchen table wearing panties and her rumpled blouse. But, well, there's not much else for her to wear.
"You want some?" Amy asks.
"Excuse me?"
She raises the pot in her hand. "Coffee."
"Oh. Sure."
"Anything in it?"
"Just some milk, please."
They sit together in silence, fingers wrapped around their mugs.
"So," Donna begins. "How are you doing?"
Amy smiles. "Fine. You?"
"Fine."
They fall into silence again, and Donna wonders if they are going to be one of those couples who do nothing but have sex. Which is a strange thing to think, as it's very likely that she and Amy are never going to be a couple. Unless you count 'a couple' as 'a couple of people who had sex once and never, ever did it again.'
"This is a little weird," Amy offers.
"For a plethora of reasons."
"Plethora?"
Donna furrows her brow. "What's wrong with that?"
"I don't know. Just an interesting word choice." She pauses. "Should we make our coffee Irish?" Off Donna's confused look, she dryly adds, "Things seem to come easier when we're drunk."
"Oh. Yeah. I mean, no. No Irish coffee." Donna furrows her brow. "Do you really think last night was easier?"
Amy shrugs. "The sex evened it all out, I thought."
"You're rather easy to please."
"You don't expect sex and then you get it. That's not too bad."
Donna laughs.
*
"So," Donna says. "What do we do now?"
"Have more sex?"
And they do.
*
Donna gets fully dressed after that because she doesn't want to get trapped in some sort of endless sex cycle with Amy. Not that the sex is bad, just. She does have to go to work Monday. Maybe even earlier. So. The sex has to come to a natural halt. Plus:
"I want to talk."
Amy raises an eyebrow. "I think we established that talking doesn't really work for us."
"We've been talking just fine today. Last night, there were mixed signals and alcohol. So."
"Okay. What do you want to talk about?"
"Where is this going?"
"Well, I'm going to make something to eat," Amy says. "So. I guess we could have lunch together."
And they do.
*
"So," Donna says. "What do you think of me?"
Amy takes a moment to look up at her. "What do I think of you?"
"You must admit that things haven't been exactly clear. Right? You must."
"I must," Amy says.
"And?"
"You seem nice enough. A little odd."
Donna nods. "I can live with that."
*
After lunch is over, Donna's a little surprised that she and Amy haven't ended up going to bed again. Before Donna leaves, Amy says, "I'll talk to you later. Okay?"
"Okay," Donna replies, surprised that there's a promise in Amy's voice.
*
On Monday, there are flowers on her desk. There's no card, no note. When she turns around, Amy's there, and Donna is definitely not surprised.
"Flowers, huh?" Amy says slowly, like she *knows* something, and Donna supposes she does.
"Yeah," Donna replies. "There isn't a card, so I don't know who could've sent them." She tries to affect the same coy attitude; she feels like she somewhat succeeds.
"Well," Amy says, "I'm sure if you think about it, it'll come to you."
"I am good at sniffing things out," she says. "Figuring things out. You know." Donna leans against her desk. "So, why are you here?"
"No reason. Just thought you might like to go to dinner."
"Oh. Really? Okay. I mean. Sure." She smiles. "How about ten or so? I'll probably be able to get out of here by then. Unless you need something later. I can do... whenever is best."
Amy looks amused; maybe by Donna's rambling desire to accommodate, maybe by something knocking around in the back of her head. All she says is: "Ten is fine."
"Good."
There's a moment that almost seems like tension, like: this is a mistake, this is going to end horribly. But it's ignored because, well, that's what you have to do if you want to have any successes.
"I'll see you later," Amy says casually.
"Okay."
Josh comes in several minutes after Amy's departure. "Flowers?" he asks without preamble.
Donna nods. "Flowers."
"Found another winner, I presume."
"Maybe," she says. "It's too soon to tell."
"If you say so."
"I do."
Josh is silent for a moment. "You do."
"Don't," Donna warns.
"Don't what?"
She shakes her head and changes the subject. "Fowler rescheduled."
"To when?"
"Tomorrow at three."
"'kay." He starts to walk into his office.
"Josh, wait," Donna says. She doesn't even understand why her lips are moving.
"Yeah?"
"I..." she begins. On the back of her tongue, there are words about Amy and maybe an apology.
"Yeah?" Josh repeats.
"Nothing. It's nothing." And she hopes she's lying.
"Okay," he says.
She wonders if she'll ever be able to tell Josh. She wonders if he'd really care. She wonders what other people would think if they found out. Then she thinks of Amy, and things don't seem as scary. Somehow.
Sure, things are still a little confusing. But there's time to work that out.
END
For: femslash07
Recipient: ladyvivien
Rating: NC-17
Fandom: The West Wing
Spoilers: through 'Privateers'
Pairing: Donna/Amy
Word Count: 2,921
Summary: Amy's always there.
Disclaimer: This doesn't belong to me.
*
Amy's always there.
Really. Always. Okay. Not always, but. Still. She's in the west wing more than any other member of the first lady's staff. In fact, Donna can honestly say that she couldn't pick most of them out of a line-up. But she could pick Amy out of a line-up, which is going to be very handy if Amy ever starts snatching purses.
Donna takes a moment to be amused by the mental image of Amy running through the halls with an armful of handbags. When she looks up, Amy's there.
Of course.
"Is Josh around?"
Donna shakes her head. "He's at lunch. You want me to tell him you were looking for him?"
"I'll catch up with him later." Amy studies her for a moment. "What's so funny?"
"I'm not laughing."
"You're smiling. Did Josh put superglue on my stapler?"
Donna shakes her head. "Not as far as I know. I was just... imagining you as a burglar. It makes sense in my head," she adds in response to Amy's incredulous stare.
"Okay," she says slowly. "Bye."
"Bye."
Then Amy's gone, but she's still kind of there. She's everywhere. Amy wants to see Josh, Amy's on the phone, Amy's leaning towards her, Amy needs something. Will, Josh, Leo, CJ, everyone says: Amy. Then there's that voice in her head, and Donna doesn't know what to make of its tone.
She can't escape Amy; she's not certain she wants to.
*
Donna's not in love with Amy, of that she's sure. She's pretty certain that she's never been in love, not really, but that is another story entirely. She just considers Amy, thinks of Amy, imagines Amy. Doing things.
It doesn't need to be explained further.
But it's not love, thank God, because there's Amy and Josh, and maybe Josh wants there to be a Josh and Donna, but maybe he's still invested in Josh and Amy, and maybe Donna doesn't know what she wants.
Maybe she wants love, but not with Josh (or maybe with Josh, because there was a time when she was infatuated with him); Amy, but not with a sweeping romantic need; to ignore complications without making it all more complicated.
She wants everything to make sense, but most of all, she wants Amy to touch her.
*
"No, I don't want to be your wingman." It's a sentence she never thought she'd say, but working for Josh has led her to say stranger things. Donna shakes away the tangent and looks into Josh's hopeful eyes. "It's not even a correct term for me."
"You don't need to get caught up in the semantics of it. Women have come a long way." He smiles. She sighs.
"Yes, Josh. The main goal was the right to hang out in a bar with a couple of drunken men. I think that was on a sign Susan B. Anthony made."
"Are you coming?" Toby asks impatiently. Donna tries to remember a moment when he sounded patient. She fails. "I will leave you here."
"That's not much of a threat," Josh says.
"Josh--"
"I'm just saying, you know."
"Josh--"
"I'm not trapped here if you leave." Josh looks at her. "So, are you definitely not coming?" She nods. "Hey, wait," he says as he tries to catch up to Toby. In the distance, she hears them yell out their goodbyes. She answers with a mumbled:
"G'night."
She puts on her coat, gets her bag, but her keys seem to be missing. She thinks: Maybe Amy stole them. The very in-joke makes her smile. Then, she imagines Amy promising to give her back the keys in exchange for... things and she blushes. She turns around, and of course, Amy's there.
"Oh. Hey. Hi."
"Hey," Amy replies. "Where's Josh?"
It's always Josh.
"He just left with Toby. Out drinking. They asked me, but I had better things to do. Well, not really, but I said I did." Her speech starts to slow as she realizes the pathetic nature of her admission. She finally finds her keys under some papers on her desk. "So. Anything I could help you with?"
"Not really. I was just going to ask Josh to buy me a welcoming drink."
"Welcoming drink?"
"A drink to welcome me to the White House." She stares at her. "It makes as much sense as you picturing me as a burglar. More, really."
"Point taken." She hesitates. "So. You want me to take you out for a welcoming drink?"
"Sure," Amy replies.
*
In the back of her mind, Donna was hoping this 'welcoming drink' would make her less discomforted by Amy. Or at the very least, that Amy would do something to lessen Donna's attraction to her. What, Donna doesn't know. She hasn't really been thinking ahead a lot tonight.
Point is, Amy's not doing anything to keep Donna from being intrigued. And more to the point, Amy's not doing anything much at all. Just leaning back in her chair and staring at Donna, as if she were a boss about to begin a job interview.
Okay, maybe Amy *is* doing something: making Donna nervous.
"So," Donna raises her half empty glass. "We should toast. To your new job."
"Yeah." She clinks her glass against Donna's and takes a small sip of her drink. "Are you sleeping with Josh?"
"No. Okay. So."
"Good."
"You decided to have a drink with me just to ask if I was having sex with Josh."
"Not exactly."
"Not exactly?"
"No. I just wanted to know."
"Okay?"
"I didn't want to hit on you if you were fucking my ex-boyfriend," Amy says.
Donna's a little stunned by how nonchalant Amy is, as if she always asks possible paramours if they're fucking Josh. And maybe she does. Who knows what Josh is doing with the few hours he spends away from the office?
"Okay. You want to hit on me. That's fine."
"I thought you'd sound more excited."
"Well, I," Donna says. "I'm just a little surprised. Excited?"
"Yes."
"Because you think I've been lusting after you or because you just believe everyone should be excited by the prospect of sleeping with you?"
Amy smiles. "Little bit of both, now that you mention it."
*
Donna, even with alcohol and the vague promise of sex, still feels nervous around Amy. Because... well, there's about twenty reasons, but the most pressing one is that Amy keeps asking her about her relationship with Josh. When did you start working for him? Did he ever talk to you about me? Because I'm sure a lot of what he said was untrue. Did Karen Cahill really send your panties to the office? Really? I thought he made that up.
So, some of the questions are less about Josh and more about mocking her. Which is not really conducive to Amy's supposed desire to hit on her.
"Look," Donna says, "if you want tips on getting Josh back, I can't really help you."
"I don't want Josh back."
"Then why are we talking about him?"
Amy shrugs. "He's a topic I know we're both familiar with."
"You say one thing about wanting to hit on me, then you're talking about Josh, which... it's confusing."
"Many have called me an enigma." She pauses, goes back to studying Donna. "You really wanted me to hit on you?"
"You're insane. Why are you so insane?"
"I'm not insane, I'm droll. Anyway, it's not my fault that you seem so straight."
Donna calms down a little. "In your defense, I suppose I mostly am."
"I'm one of the few to pierce your heterosexuality? I'm honored."
Donna wrinkles her nose. "You're still making fun of me, aren't you?"
"A little," she replies. "But it's affectionate."
*
The drunker she gets, the more comfortable she gets around Amy. And Amy seems to get more comfortable too, to the point where she is brazenly (and seriously) hitting on her. Putting her hand on Donna's thigh, whispering in her ear, asking her about other women she's slept with.
But when she admits that one of those women was Karen Cahill, Amy goes back to laughing at her.
"Well," she says, "I won't send your panties to the White House."
"Maybe I should keep them on, though. You know, just to be sure."
Amy moves her hand further up Donna's leg, coming thisclose to her underwear. She's almost certain that they're actually going to have sex right where they're sitting, but Amy stops as she says, "Should we get out of here?"
"Are we seriously doing this?"
Amy doesn't answer.
*
The cab ride over to Amy's building is silent and strangely devoid of groping. Maybe they really aren't doing this, which might be a good idea since they shouldn't be doing this.
Jesus. Donna should've just gone out with Josh and helped him pick up women. Then Amy's breath is warm on Donna's neck and Amy's saying, "Do you still want me to fuck you?" as if all of the evening has been a smooth and slow seduction, and Donna's thinking that she's had worse nights, right? This has got to be better than what happened with Cliff, at least, or that girl who seemed distressed at the idea of oral sex. And not just because Donna no longer keeps a diary and is pretty certain Amy's had enough sex to properly deal with the messiness that comes with going down on someone.
"Well," Amy says, "do you want me to fuck you?"
"Yes."
*
After they enter Amy's apartment, Amy pulls her into a kiss. It's a little too forceful, but it's closer to what she imagined being with Amy would be like. Then Amy's fingers are on the buttons of her blouse, nails scraping against bits of skin as she starts to undress Donna. It's not long before she's naked and on her back, thinking, Yes, this is what I had in mind.
Amy pins her to the bed during the next kiss, palms pressed against Donna's shoulders as she rocks her hips against Donna's stomach. It only lasts for a moment, but Donna can feel how wet and warm Amy is. Amy pulls away, and Donna just watches as Amy's mouth travels down her stomach until her tongue is tracing the outer lips of her sex.
Her hands grip the sheets, although her instincts compel her to slide her fingers through Amy's hair. But Amy, she might not like that. Amy, she might stop doing what she's doing. And Donna, she does not want that. But Amy does stop anyway, though not until Donna's even wetter than she was. She crawls up Donna's body, nipping at her skin as she moves. Amy's tongue dips out against Donna's chin as she slides a hand between her legs. A finger brushes over Donna's clit, quickly replaced by the firm pressure of Amy's thumb. Donna throws her head back as her hips arch, the action rewarded with two fingers sliding deep inside her. Amy sucks on a patch of skin, keeps her hand moving until Donna is coming around her fingers.
Amy smiles before reclining on the bed. She glances over at Donna. "You like that?"
"No."
Amy's head swivels. "Really?"
"No. Just wanted to see what your reaction would be." Donna smiles as she leans in. "It was actually funnier than I imagined."
Donna kisses Amy as she moves a hand to her breast. She swirls her fingers over her nipple, then moves her mouth to the place where her fingers lay. She licks and kisses her way down to Amy's curls, smelling Amy's arousal before she spreads her lips open and dips her tongue inside. She runs her tongue over Amy again as she slides a finger inside her, then another. Amy's surprisingly quiet, but her body reacts, clenching around Donna's fingers and arching against Donna's mouth. Then she's climaxing, hips thrusting forward as her hands grip onto the sheets.
She lies down next to Amy. "Did you like that?"
"No."
"I'm sure."
"Damn. Your reaction wasn't funny at all."
"Sorry to disappoint."
"That's okay," Amy mutters.
*
When Donna wakes up, Amy is still asleep, curled up with her back facing Donna. She thinks it's probably a good idea to leave, but she doesn't.
Soon, Amy's awake.
*
She feels awkward sitting at Amy's kitchen table wearing panties and her rumpled blouse. But, well, there's not much else for her to wear.
"You want some?" Amy asks.
"Excuse me?"
She raises the pot in her hand. "Coffee."
"Oh. Sure."
"Anything in it?"
"Just some milk, please."
They sit together in silence, fingers wrapped around their mugs.
"So," Donna begins. "How are you doing?"
Amy smiles. "Fine. You?"
"Fine."
They fall into silence again, and Donna wonders if they are going to be one of those couples who do nothing but have sex. Which is a strange thing to think, as it's very likely that she and Amy are never going to be a couple. Unless you count 'a couple' as 'a couple of people who had sex once and never, ever did it again.'
"This is a little weird," Amy offers.
"For a plethora of reasons."
"Plethora?"
Donna furrows her brow. "What's wrong with that?"
"I don't know. Just an interesting word choice." She pauses. "Should we make our coffee Irish?" Off Donna's confused look, she dryly adds, "Things seem to come easier when we're drunk."
"Oh. Yeah. I mean, no. No Irish coffee." Donna furrows her brow. "Do you really think last night was easier?"
Amy shrugs. "The sex evened it all out, I thought."
"You're rather easy to please."
"You don't expect sex and then you get it. That's not too bad."
Donna laughs.
*
"So," Donna says. "What do we do now?"
"Have more sex?"
And they do.
*
Donna gets fully dressed after that because she doesn't want to get trapped in some sort of endless sex cycle with Amy. Not that the sex is bad, just. She does have to go to work Monday. Maybe even earlier. So. The sex has to come to a natural halt. Plus:
"I want to talk."
Amy raises an eyebrow. "I think we established that talking doesn't really work for us."
"We've been talking just fine today. Last night, there were mixed signals and alcohol. So."
"Okay. What do you want to talk about?"
"Where is this going?"
"Well, I'm going to make something to eat," Amy says. "So. I guess we could have lunch together."
And they do.
*
"So," Donna says. "What do you think of me?"
Amy takes a moment to look up at her. "What do I think of you?"
"You must admit that things haven't been exactly clear. Right? You must."
"I must," Amy says.
"And?"
"You seem nice enough. A little odd."
Donna nods. "I can live with that."
*
After lunch is over, Donna's a little surprised that she and Amy haven't ended up going to bed again. Before Donna leaves, Amy says, "I'll talk to you later. Okay?"
"Okay," Donna replies, surprised that there's a promise in Amy's voice.
*
On Monday, there are flowers on her desk. There's no card, no note. When she turns around, Amy's there, and Donna is definitely not surprised.
"Flowers, huh?" Amy says slowly, like she *knows* something, and Donna supposes she does.
"Yeah," Donna replies. "There isn't a card, so I don't know who could've sent them." She tries to affect the same coy attitude; she feels like she somewhat succeeds.
"Well," Amy says, "I'm sure if you think about it, it'll come to you."
"I am good at sniffing things out," she says. "Figuring things out. You know." Donna leans against her desk. "So, why are you here?"
"No reason. Just thought you might like to go to dinner."
"Oh. Really? Okay. I mean. Sure." She smiles. "How about ten or so? I'll probably be able to get out of here by then. Unless you need something later. I can do... whenever is best."
Amy looks amused; maybe by Donna's rambling desire to accommodate, maybe by something knocking around in the back of her head. All she says is: "Ten is fine."
"Good."
There's a moment that almost seems like tension, like: this is a mistake, this is going to end horribly. But it's ignored because, well, that's what you have to do if you want to have any successes.
"I'll see you later," Amy says casually.
"Okay."
Josh comes in several minutes after Amy's departure. "Flowers?" he asks without preamble.
Donna nods. "Flowers."
"Found another winner, I presume."
"Maybe," she says. "It's too soon to tell."
"If you say so."
"I do."
Josh is silent for a moment. "You do."
"Don't," Donna warns.
"Don't what?"
She shakes her head and changes the subject. "Fowler rescheduled."
"To when?"
"Tomorrow at three."
"'kay." He starts to walk into his office.
"Josh, wait," Donna says. She doesn't even understand why her lips are moving.
"Yeah?"
"I..." she begins. On the back of her tongue, there are words about Amy and maybe an apology.
"Yeah?" Josh repeats.
"Nothing. It's nothing." And she hopes she's lying.
"Okay," he says.
She wonders if she'll ever be able to tell Josh. She wonders if he'd really care. She wonders what other people would think if they found out. Then she thinks of Amy, and things don't seem as scary. Somehow.
Sure, things are still a little confusing. But there's time to work that out.
END